Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin recently attended the world premiere of Tolkien in Los Angeles. He was interviewed on the red carpet, which was actually green to honor Middle Earth, alongside stars Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins and director Dome Karukoski. Martin talked about how much J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings inspired his own writing and Game of Thrones, which is pretty obvious to just about anybody. However, things took a strange turn when Collins admitted that the Harry Potter book series was her favorite.
The Lord of the Rings vs. Harry Potter, and now Game of Thrones, debate has been going on for quite some time now. There are camps who will defend their favorite franchise at length online or verbally in person. All of which have some pretty passionate beliefs. With that being said, George R.R. Martin is firmly in The Lord of the Rings camp and he seems pretty passionate about his stance. He had this to say.
“Gandalf could kick Dumbledore’s ass.”
George R.R. Martin may have just opened a pretty big can of worms, but he is very passionate about his devotion to J.R.R Tolkien. And for many, there would be no Harry Potter if it weren’t for The Lord of the Rings. Rowling admits to reading Tolkien’s famous book as a teenager, but claims she did not read The Hobbit until after the first Harry Potter book hit the shelves. She also calls the similarities between the two “superficial.” On the other side of the fence is Martin, who has no problem admitting to the Tolkien influence. He explains.
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“He made me love the form he created – epic fantasy. He redefined fantasy of everything that had been before. I started doing a trilogy called Game of Thrones. Now my trilogy is seven books – if I finish the last two.”
As for seeing Tolkien on the big screen, George R.R. Martin is a fan. He found the movie to be “profoundly moving” and noted that it does not have any of the writer clichés thrown into it. He enjoyed watching the movie showcase more of the legendary writer’s personal life and experiences which led to the creations on the page instead of “sitting at a typewriter and crumpling a piece of paper.”
George R.R. Martin is also a big fan of Avengers: Endgame and praised the movie in a recent blog post. He enjoyed the ways the movie defied expectations and deviated from a normal superhero plot structure. Martin is a fan of many things, but he is pretty bummed to see Game of Thrones going away. The hit HBO series only has two more episodes left before it draws to a close at the end of this month. Martin isn’t alone. There are many fans who very upset over the show ending. The interview with George R.R. Martin was originally conducted by Variety.
