Game of Thrones season 6: Bran Stark confirms return and wades into great Jon Snow debate

Isaac Hempstead Wright will be back with 'interesting visions' next year

Isaac Hempstead Wright as Bran Stark in Game of Thrones (HBO)

Bran Stark is officially going to be in the next season of Game of Thrones after missing the last run.

Isaac Hempstead Wright, who plays Ned Stark's crippled Warg son in the hit fantasy TV series, confirmed the rumours as true when quizzed by the Irish Examiner.

"I can't say a lot, but I am back this sesaon and it's going to get particularly interesting with Bran," the young English actor said. "He has some interesting visions."

Co-showrunner David Benioff has compared Bran to Luke Skywalker, noting that both characters' absences are key to their dramatic narratives. Bran did not appear in season five after finding the Three Eyed Raven at the end of season four, while Luke went off for some serious Jedi training in the Star Wars franchise.

"It would be far less interesting, after The Empire Strikes Back, to have an hour-long movie in between Empire and Return of the Jedi where Luke is training," Benioff said. "It's so much cooler to cut from the end of Empire to the beginning of Return, where he's become the Jedi."

Hempstead Wright was missing in season five, along with Kristian Nairn's Hodor, so that the show could catch up with George RR Martin's books. Season six is expected to be the first to overtake Martin's storylines as the 66-year-old author is still penning the next instalment, The Winds of Winter.

But Hempstead Wright has some catching up to do before he can get stuck into shooting. The 16-year-old was too busy with school exams but plans to "binge-watch it all". He's not immune to spoilers, however, and has no solid answer about the much-debated future of Jon Snow.

"I don't know [if actor Kit Harington will return]," he said. "He's said he's not. I wish he would because I love Kit and because the character's so cool. Who knows?" We start filming series six at the end of this month so we'll see."

Kit Harington as Jon Snow in the Game of Thrones season 5 finale (HBO)

Harington and the showrunners have insisted numerous times that Jon Snow is "deader than dead" after he was stabbed by the Night's Watch in the dramatic season five finale but some fans still believe that Melisandre will bring him back to life and that famous curly-haired mop will return to our living rooms.

Season six will likely air in spring 2016.