Warning: Major spoilers for The Winter King season 1 below!
Assuming season 2 happens, there's a perfect piece of casting for Lancelot that could lean into the comparisons leveled at the show. There have been endless movies, shows and books that have reworked the legend of King Arthur, with some going heavy on the fantasy elements (like 1981's ) while others have stripped them way back. Bernard Cornwell's is a novel trilogy that merged the myth with British history, resulting in some of the author's best work.
Now that the first season of MGM+'s , much has been made of all the characters and storylines that were omitted. The most notable removals include Arthur's final battle with King Gorfydd and Powys, Derfel's misadventures in France and the characters of Galahad and Lancelot being cut. The latter two play big supporting roles in the first novel, with Lancelot playing a more villainous role in the later books.
If the show sticks close to the source material, Lancelot must appear in . Described in the book as vain, arrogant and somewhat cowardly, Lancelot will need to make a big impression when he arrives, and one that presents an opportunity for the series to inject a little star power. Since many write-ups already compare it to , casting Kit Harington as Lancelot in would be a masterstroke.
On , Harrington's Jon Snow is pure of heart, virtuous and self-sacrificing. In essence, he was the HBO show's protagonist, and not even death could stop him from saving the day. Being a "" and something of an outcast, Jon has much in common with Arthur (Iain De Caestecker) too; at least in Jon's case, his adoptive father Ned Stark (Sean Bean) was much nicer than Arthur's. Lancelot, however, is the total opposite of Jon Snow in just about every way, so Harington's casting could lean into the similarities while giving him a completely different character to play .
Every episode of The Winter King is available to stream on MGM+
Of course, Harington is currently developing a Jon Snow spinoff series, which may take him out of the running for another bloody historical epic with fantasy elements - but this would be an even better, and fresher, use of his talents, rather than revisiting a character he played for eight seasons already. Season two of has yet to be confirmed, though its cliffhanger demands some kind of resolution. If another series does arrive, it will need to increase the scale and scope, as the first season was a little too confined and lacking in action. There's a war facing Arthur and Dumnonia, and audiences are going to need to see it depicted onscreen.
