Amazon could have Conan the Barbarian as a powerful response to game of thrones before it was scrapped due to some pretty troublesome issues. If the name sounds like you, then yes, this series was to follow the same source material that was followed by the critically and commercially acclaimed 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger film. But unfortunately, the project fell into the hands of Netflix as Amazon Studios Head found Toxic Masculinity in the project.
It has been reported that Amazon Studios is smart about reaching out to all audiences in the fantasy genre by introducing shows aimed at both family and adult audiences. Whereas The Lord of the Rings had to take care of the family area, Conan was supposed to lead the mature front which unfortunately never reached the finish line.
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What exactly prompted Amazon Studios to remove Conan the Barbarian?
Conan the Barbarian is a gritty comic book series that introduced sword and sorcery culture to mainstream American comics. It was reported in 2018 that Amazon was planning to work on the Barbarian character before it quickly moved to Netflix.
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The whole event resurfaced after Youtube channel Midnight’s Edge posted a video about it. Channel founder Andre Einherjar explained that Amazon’s original planning was to capture the entire fantasy market by targeting both mature and family audiences. Unfortunately, adult audiences had to be captured with The wheel of time instead of Conan series.
Additionally, he also mentioned that the person who pitched the idea for the show fell in the grip of the #MeToo movement which led to a staff overhaul. Here entered Jennifer Salke who saw the project as Toxic Masculinity and chose to scrap the project, which is a decision he harshly criticized:
“Where others saw the next Game of Thrones in Ryan Condal’s Conan scripts, Jennifer Salke saw only toxic masculinity. As such, Ryan Condal was fired, Conan was scrapped, and Jennifer Salke chose The Wheel of Time to be Amazon’s more adult-oriented Game of Thrones replacement, though she made sure to make it even more female-centric than it already was, just to be sure that there would be absolutely no toxic masculinity.
Amazon Studios has also reportedly hired Ryan Condal, the game of thrones fame for working on it but sadly now we can never know how his version would have performed but apparently Netflix is actively working on the project.
Conan the Barbarian under the Netflix umbrella
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According to reports, the project is actively being worked on with Netflix backing it. Netflix is not only working with a live-action series, but also with a few anime adaptations. Recently, the show’s producer Frederik Malmberg announced that the show was in the writing phase:
“With Conan, I’m happy to say we’re writing. We’re in development, which means we’re basically working with a screenwriter, who wrote the first draft of the pilot for the series, and then a preview for the season.
With the ongoing development, it won’t be long before the show hits the platform and it will also spark a friendly rivalry with another fantasy Witcher which also streams on Netflix.
Source: Edge of Midnight
