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Monday, August 15, 2016

Weekly Update #243! George RR Martin's Wild Cards Are Coming to Television

Editor's Note

A quick recap of last week's post. First up, go learn more about Tales From Alternate Earths and the recognizable names you might find on Weekly Update. Next up, do you like alternate maps of Liberia? Then you may want to check out "And Mighty Be Her Powers" by SRegan. Also, check out how Brooke Johnson's rewrites history for your entertainment in her guest post to promote her new novel, The Guild Conspiracy.

Also don't forget there were a lot of new alternate history releases last Tuesday. If you see anything you like, please click on the links provided when you go to buy it and support The Update.

And now the news...

George RR Martin's Wild Cards Are Coming to Television
On his official website, George RR Martin announced that Universal Cable Productions (UCP) had acquired the rights to adapt Wild Cards for television. For those who don't know, Wild Cards is a long running series of anthologies and mosaic novels that is contributed to by multiple authors, including Martin. It is set in an alternate timeline where history changed in 1946 when an alien virus was released over New York City, killing many and also mutating others into hideous, deformed creatures called "Jokers". A few lucky "Aces", however, were granted superpowers.

It combines the realism that people love from A Song of Ice and Fire/Games of Thrones with the superhero genre. In fact the first volume of Wild Cards lost the 1986 Hugo Award to Watchmen, another superhero work known for its gritty reimagining of the cape and cowl crowd. Its odd how deconstructing superheroes was so popular 1980s.

Anywho, according to Martin, there will be several interlocking series. Melinda M. Snodgrass, a long time Wild Cards editor and contributor, is attached as an executive producer on the project, together with Gregory Noveck (who previously attempted to adapt Wild Cards into a movie). At the moment we don't know which characters or stories will be adapted, but with such a large volume of works to pull from (I believe there are 22 volumes as of now) I am sure they will never run out of tales to tell.

Martin, however, did assure us we will see Croyd Crenson. Known as "The Sleeper", every time Croyd fell asleep, he awoke with a new body and powers...but these changes aren't always welcomed developments. I am curious to see what they will do with this character. Since you would essentially need to cast an entirely new actor every time Sleeper changes, this could be an ingenious way to get well known actors to guest star on certain episodes.

That being said, Martin will not be involved in the production, since he has an exclusive deal with HBO and is busy writing The Winds of Winter. As much as I would like to see him involved in the project...I want him to finish The Winds of Winter. GOD DAMN IT GEORGE! I NEED MY FIX!

Excuse me...not sure what came over me there. Anywho, well I am excited about this news. I haven't read all of the Wild Cards volumes yet, but what I have read I have enjoyed immensely. If you love comics or just like realistic takes on popular tropes, then you should definitely check out the series. Here is hoping Hollywood pulls through and brings Wild Cards to the small screen.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on FacebookTwitterTumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

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