# Confederate (TV series)
**Confederate** was a planned American alternate-history drama television series developed for the network HBO by [David Benioff](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-benioff) and D.B. Weiss, the creators of *Game of Thrones*. Announced on July 19, 2017, it was set in an alternate timeline in which the Southern states successfully seceded from the [Union](https://www.edgepedia.org/union-american-civil-war), producing a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution. The series was never produced; HBO confirmed in 2019 that it would not move forward.[1](https://www.tvline.com/news/d-b-weiss-david-benioff-confederate-series-order-hbo-849281/) • [2](https://www.tvline.com/news/confederate-cancelled-hbo-slavery-drama-game-of-thrones-producers-913048/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and order | HBO series order announced July 19, 2017, from *Game of Thrones* showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss[1](https://www.tvline.com/news/d-b-weiss-david-benioff-confederate-series-order-hbo-849281/) |
| Premise | Alternate timeline in which the South successfully seceded; slavery remains legal and has become a modern institution[1](https://www.tvline.com/news/d-b-weiss-david-benioff-confederate-series-order-hbo-849281/) |
| Story setting | Chronicles the events leading to the "Third American Civil War," following characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone[1](https://www.tvline.com/news/d-b-weiss-david-benioff-confederate-series-order-hbo-849281/) |
| Writing team | Benioff and Weiss with Nichelle Tramble Spellman (*The Good Wife*) and Malcolm Spellman (*Empire*); *Game of Thrones* producers Carolyn Strauss and Bernadette Caulfield as executive producers[1](https://www.tvline.com/news/d-b-weiss-david-benioff-confederate-series-order-hbo-849281/) |
| Origin | Discussed by Benioff and Weiss for years, originally conceived as a feature film[1](https://www.tvline.com/news/d-b-weiss-david-benioff-confederate-series-order-hbo-849281/) |
| Reception | Immediate and intense backlash after the announcement; HBO executives later acknowledged missteps in how it was rolled out[3](https://time.com/4868172/confederate-hbo-game-of-thrones-slavery/) • [4](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/10/confederate-hbo-screwed-up-richard-plepler-vanity-fair-summit) |
| Fate | Still in development but not actively worked on as of December 2017; officially confirmed dead at HBO in 2019 after Benioff and Weiss signed with Netflix[5](https://collider.com/confederate-hbo-show-status/) • [2](https://www.tvline.com/news/confederate-cancelled-hbo-slavery-drama-game-of-thrones-producers-913048/) |
## Premise and production plan
According to HBO's announcement, the series would chronicle the events leading to a fictional "Third American Civil War." Set in an alternate timeline, the show imagined that the Southern states had broken away from the Union without failure, producing a country where slavery was still lawful and had developed into a modern-day institution. The plot was intended to span a wide range of characters living on the two sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone, among them freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, journalists, executives at a conglomerate that held slaves, and the relatives of those under its control.[1](https://www.tvline.com/news/d-b-weiss-david-benioff-confederate-series-order-hbo-849281/)
Benioff and Weiss said they had discussed the concept for years, originally as a feature film, but chose HBO after their experience on *Game of Thrones* convinced them that no one provided a bigger storytelling canvas. Production was planned to begin after the eighth and final season of *Game of Thrones* wrapped.[1](https://www.tvline.com/news/d-b-weiss-david-benioff-confederate-series-order-hbo-849281/) The writing team paired the two showrunners with Nichelle Tramble Spellman, a writer on *The Good Wife* and *Justified*, and Malcolm Spellman, a producer of *Empire*, both of whom are Black, alongside *Game of Thrones* executive producers Carolyn Strauss and Bernadette Caulfield.[1](https://www.tvline.com/news/d-b-weiss-david-benioff-confederate-series-order-hbo-849281/) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-confederate-backlash-20170804-story.html)
## Backlash and defense
The announcement produced immediate, intense criticism on social media and in commentary. Many critics called it tone-deaf for two white men to lead a drama about the enslavement of [Black people](https://www.edgepedia.org/black-people), particularly given criticism Benioff and Weiss had already received for their depiction of violence and of people of color on *Game of Thrones*.[3](https://time.com/4868172/confederate-hbo-game-of-thrones-slavery/) • [7](https://theweek.com/86997/confederate-game-of-thrones-writers-criticised-for-new-show) Commentators feared the concept could become what writer [Roxane Gay](https://www.edgepedia.org/roxane-gay) termed "slavery fan fiction," reimagined by white showrunners, and the controversy landed during a period of resurgent white-supremacist activity in the United States.[8](https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/36060/Sullivan2019.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
All four creators defended the project in a widely covered interview with *Vulture* the day after the announcement. Benioff said the reaction was "a little bit surprising" and that criticism was premature before any episode existed; Weiss traced the idea to Civil War history reading about how one of [Robert E. Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-e-lee)'s botched invasions could have altered the war, and called slavery America's "original sin." Nichelle Tramble Spellman said the show would draw parallels between that history and a present-day conversation, and would not use "typical antebellum imagery," including "the big Gone With the Wind mansion." Malcolm Spellman recalled telling the pair they were dealing with "weapons-grade material" and urged critics to recognize that he and Nichelle were not props shielding anyone.[9](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/07/confederate-hbo-creators-backlash) • [10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/aug/01/confederate-hbo-game-of-thrones-benioff-weiss-racism)
HBO stood by the project. Programming president Casey Bloys told reporters it was a "risk worth taking" while acknowledging a "high degree of difficulty with getting this right," and asked viewers to reserve judgment, saying "it's not whips and plantations."[11](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/hbo-president-asks-viewers-reserve-judgment-confederate-whips/story?id=48882113) • [12](https://www.thewrap.com/judd-apatow-defends-hbo-confederate-backlash-censorship/) The writer and director [Judd Apatow](https://www.edgepedia.org/judd-apatow), who had criticized the backlash as "censorship," later said he had used the wrong word.[12](https://www.thewrap.com/judd-apatow-defends-hbo-confederate-backlash-censorship/)
## Comparisons and debate
Commentators immediately compared *Confederate* to Amazon's *The Man in the High Castle*, an adaptation of [Philip K. Dick](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-k-dick)'s 1962 novel imagining an America divided between a victorious [Nazi Germany](https://www.edgepedia.org/nazi-germany) and imperial Japan, which had premiered in 2015 to positive reviews. Some argued the two projects were essentially the same; others rejected the comparison. The journalist [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://www.edgepedia.org/ta-nehisi-coates), a writer on history and race whose book *Between the World and Me* won the National Book Award, argued that comparisons between *Confederate* and *The Man in the High Castle* were fatuous and that Nazi Germany and the Confederacy could not be treated as equivalent.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/aug/01/confederate-hbo-game-of-thrones-benioff-weiss-racism) • [13](https://forward.com/schmooze/379288/ta-nehisi-coates-you-cant-compare-nazi-germany-to-the-southern-confederacy/)
A related point of comparison was *Black America*, an alternate-history series in development at Amazon from producer [Will Packer](https://www.edgepedia.org/will-packer) and showrunner Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, imagining a separate nation where Jim Crow persisted. Although it had been in development for over a year, its announcement was timed as a direct response to the *Confederate* controversy, and the juxtaposition intensified scrutiny of HBO's project.[14](https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2017/08/01/black-america-vs-confederate/) Critics also noted that the "what if slavery wasn't abolished?" premise had appeared before, in the 2004 mockumentary *C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America* and Ben H. Winters's 2016 novel *Underground Airlines*, and that [WGN America](https://www.edgepedia.org/wgn-america) had recently canceled *[Underground](https://www.edgepedia.org/underground-tv-series)*, a drama about runaway slaves and abolitionists.[15](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/07/19/game-of-thrones-creators-announce-new-show-set-in-a-world-where-slavery-still-exists/)
## Cancellation
By December 2017 the series was reportedly still in development, but the creators were not actively working on it, and its momentum had stalled.[5](https://collider.com/confederate-hbo-show-status/) HBO's leadership had already begun acknowledging errors in the rollout: at the Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour, Bloys called the press-release announcement "misguided," and in October 2017 HBO chief executive Richard Plepler publicly discussed where the network had "screwed up" with *Confederate*.[4](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/10/confederate-hbo-screwed-up-richard-plepler-vanity-fair-summit)
The project had been on life support since February 2018, when Disney and [Lucasfilm](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucasfilm) signed Benioff and Weiss to create a new *Star Wars* trilogy. In 2019, with the pair now tethered to Netflix through a large overall deal, Bloys officially confirmed to TVLine that *Confederate* would not be moving forward.[2](https://www.tvline.com/news/confederate-cancelled-hbo-slavery-drama-game-of-thrones-producers-913048/) No episode was ever filmed. The French newspaper *Le Monde* later described the project as stillborn, saying the outcry had forced HBO to abandon it.[16](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/03/18/game-of-thrones-creators-take-great-leap-forward-with-new-sci-fi-series-3-body-problem_6632079_30.html)
## References
1. [Game Of Thrones EPs To Helm Alt-History Drama Confederate At HBO, TVLine](https://www.tvline.com/news/d-b-weiss-david-benioff-confederate-series-order-hbo-849281/)
2. ['Confederate' Cancelled At HBO: Slavery Drama From 'Game Of Thrones' EPs, TVLine](https://www.tvline.com/news/confederate-cancelled-hbo-slavery-drama-game-of-thrones-producers-913048/)
3. ['This Is Scary for All of Us.' Game of Thrones Creators Defend New HBO Show About Slavery Amid Backlash, Time](https://time.com/4868172/confederate-hbo-game-of-thrones-slavery/)
4. [HBO C.E.O. on Where They "Screwed Up" with Confederate, Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/10/confederate-hbo-screwed-up-richard-plepler-vanity-fair-summit)
5. [HBO's Confederate Series Not Actively Being Worked on Now, Collider](https://collider.com/confederate-hbo-show-status/)
6. [Let's not trash 'Confederate' before it's even made, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-confederate-backlash-20170804-story.html)
7. [Confederate: Game of Thrones writers criticised for new show, The Week](https://theweek.com/86997/confederate-game-of-thrones-writers-criticised-for-new-show)
8. [Sullivan (2019), University of Edinburgh thesis on slavery narratives](https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/36060/Sullivan2019.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
9. [The Creators of HBO's Alt-History Civil War Show Face Backlash Head On, Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/07/confederate-hbo-creators-backlash)
10. [Confederate: will a grassroots movement sink the controversial HBO series?, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/aug/01/confederate-hbo-game-of-thrones-benioff-weiss-racism)
11. [HBO president asks viewers to reserve judgment on 'Confederate', ABC News](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/hbo-president-asks-viewers-reserve-judgment-confederate-whips/story?id=48882113)
12. [Judd Apatow on Calling HBO's 'Confederate' Backlash 'Censorship': 'I Used the Wrong Word', TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/judd-apatow-defends-hbo-confederate-backlash-censorship/)
13. [Ta-Nehisi Coates: You Can't Compare Nazi Germany to the Southern Confederacy, The Forward](https://forward.com/schmooze/379288/ta-nehisi-coates-you-cant-compare-nazi-germany-to-the-southern-confederacy/)
14. ['Black America' Vs. 'Confederate', Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2017/08/01/black-america-vs-confederate/)
15. ['Game of Thrones' creators announce new show set in a world where slavery still exists, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/07/19/game-of-thrones-creators-announce-new-show-set-in-a-world-where-slavery-still-exists/)
16. [Game of Thrones creators take great leap forward with new sci-fi series '3 Body Problem', Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/03/18/game-of-thrones-creators-take-great-leap-forward-with-new-sci-fi-series-3-body-problem_6632079_30.html)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Conflict and security › Wars, campaigns, and incidents › Wars and campaigns (whole-conflict histories) › 19th-century wars and imperial conflicts › American Civil War › Civil War aftermath, commemoration, and culture › Films about the Civil War*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license