Samurai Jack Creator Genndy Tartakovsky Joins Game of Thrones Universe for Animated Sea Snake Series

The Game of Thrones universe just landed one of animation's biggest talents.

Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of Primal and Samurai Jack and director of Hotel Transylvania, is heading to HBO's biggest franchise with his name attached to the animated Sea Snake project Nine Voyages , according to a report from Dark Horizons. The news dropped during an interview with HBO Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys.

This marks a massive get for Warner Bros. Discovery. Tartakovsky's track record speaks volumes. Five Emmy Awards. Groundbreaking work on Star Wars: Clone Wars. The brutally beautiful Primal, which scored a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes for both its first and second seasons.

What Is Nine Voyages?

The series will explore Corlys Velaryon's story and his journey to becoming the infamous Sea Snake . We're talking about the legendary seafarer who made House Velaryon richer than the Lannisters through nine epic voyages across Essos.

Steve Toussaint plays the character in House of the Dragon, but Nine Voyages takes us back decades before those events. Think of this as a prequel to the prequel. The series will take place a few decades before the events of House of the Dragon, and will flesh out Corlys Velaryon's character as he becomes the legendary Sea Snake .

The show's name comes from Maester Mathis's book The Nine Voyages, which chronicles Corlys's adventures. Corlys sailed aboard his Sea Snake, a ship he designed and built, on nine great voyages to Essos. During his first voyage, he sailed beyond the Jade Gates at Qarth to Yi Ti and Leng .

We're talking exotic locations like Qarth, Asshai, the Basilisk Isles, Volantis, and beyond. Places the main series barely touched.

Why Animation Makes Perfect Sense

George R.R. Martin himself pushed for the switch from live action to animation. Budget was the killer. Budgetary constraints would likely have made a live action version prohibitively expensive, what with half the show taking place at sea, and the necessity of creating a different port every week, from Driftmark to Lys to the Basilisk Isles to Volantis to Qarth to... well, on and on and on .

Animation removes those handcuffs completely. Tartakovsky can show us the full breadth of Martin's world without breaking the bank. Dragons, sea monsters, foreign cities with impossible architecture - all fair game now.

Plus, Tartakovsky's style fits perfectly. His work thrives on visual storytelling. Primal barely uses dialogue, relying instead on animation and sound design to create visceral, emotional experiences. That approach could work wonders for a seafaring adventure series.

The Warner Bros Connection

This partnership makes complete sense when you look at the timeline. On June 15, 2022, Tartakovsky signed a cross-studio overall deal with Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. Animation that lets him develop, create and produce animated programs for a variety of platforms, either with original characters or with a Warner Bros. Discovery IP .

That deal opened the door to Warner's entire IP vault. Game of Thrones qualifies as one of their most valuable properties. The timing worked out.

Tartakovsky's current project, Primal Season 3, just premiered on Adult Swim earlier this month. The show brought back main character Spear despite his death in Season 2, using dark magic to resurrect him for another round of prehistoric carnage.

What This Means for the Franchise

Nine Voyages represents something fresh for the Game of Thrones universe. Every other project focuses heavily on Westeros and the Iron Throne. This one? It's all about exploration and adventure in distant lands.

The show's very name is practically a promise that it won't stay in Westeros. The "nine voyages" of the title refer to Corlys Velaryon's legendary seafaring adventures prior to House of the Dragon Season 1. That's the premise of the show: watching Corlys and his crew visit locales outside Westeros barely or never depicted in live-action .

Think of it as the franchise's version of Star Trek. New worlds every episode. Different cultures, creatures, and conflicts. The potential for worldbuilding is massive.

No release date has been announced. Development on animated projects typically takes years, especially for something this ambitious. But with Tartakovsky's Warner Bros deal in place and HBO actively pushing forward on multiple Game of Thrones projects, expect updates as production ramps up.

The Game of Thrones franchise keeps expanding. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms just premiered on 18 January 2026 to strong reviews. House of the Dragon Season 3 is filming now. And now we've got one of animation's greatest minds bringing the Sea Snake's legendary voyages to life.

Westeros just got a whole lot bigger.