Slavery series from Game of Thrones creators facing backlash

The creators of Game of Thrones are facing criticism after announcing a new drama, set in a world where slavery is still legal.

It's called Confederate and they say it "chronicles the events leading to the Third American Civil War".

Some fans online have dubbed it "slavery fan fiction", arguing it shouldn't be produced by two white men.

Season seven of Game of Thrones is being broadcast now - with the final season expected in the next two years.

According to HBO, Confederate "takes place in an alternate timeline, where the southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution.

"The story follows a broad swath of characters... freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, journalists, the executives of a slave-holding conglomerate and the families of people in their thrall."

The channel says production will begin after the final season of Game of Thrones.

The men behind both shows, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, say they have "discussed confederate for years, originally as a concept for a feature film.

"But our experience on Thrones has convinced us that no one provides a bigger, better storytelling canvas than HBO.

"There won't be dragons or White Walkers in this series, but we are creating a world."

Game of Thrones has recently been criticised by Star Wars star John Boyega for not casting enough black actors.

And the concept of this new project has made many fans similarly uncomfortable.

Journalist Ira Madison III tweeted: "The writers of a fantasy show with no black people cant wait to write a fantasy show where the black roles are... slaves".

Logan said: "Two white guys making a show where black slavery features prominently. This is profoundly tone deaf."

Twitter user Citizen Chris went into more detail, saying "I'm not confident they will understand and respect black POV on confed."

He then added: "The better analogy would be like... if you're making a Holocaust film, I wanna know where the Jews are on the creative team, you know?"

Others have been quick to point out that two of the writers are black, and have dealt with issues like this in the past.

Tananarive Due posted: "Just realized @NichelleTramble AND @Malcolmpellman are involved with @HBO's Confederate, so now I'm curious."

Twitter user @atypicalinguist said: "It looks like they have good writers: Nichelle Tramble Spellman (Justified, The Good Wife) and Malcolm Spellman (Empire)".

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