HBO’s upcoming series Confederate is exactly what you expect with a title like that. Created by Game of Thrones overlords D.B. Weiss and David Benioff and co-executive produced and written by Malcolm and Nichelle Spellman, the show—an alternate history series that questions what would have happened if the South had successfully seceded and slavery was still legal in that part of the U.S.—was announced Wednesday via press release. Naturally, it ignited backlash almost instantly. Why would anyone spend such resources creating what could potentially end up as futuristic antebellum South fan fiction? Who exactly is this show for, especially in the heated Trump era? And how can viewers trust Weiss and Benioff to handle such delicate material, considering the way race has often been handled on Game of Thrones?

All four of the show’s creators and producers tried to answer those questions on Thursday during an interview with Vulture. “We all knew it was coming in one form or another,” Benioff said of the backlash.

“You’re dealing with weapons-grade material here,” Malcolm remembers telling Benioff and Weiss during their first conversation.

The series was initially dreamt up by the Thrones showrunners, who later brought the Spellmans into the fold. Weiss remembers having the idea after reading a bit of Civil War history and learning how one of Robert E. Lee’s botched invasions could have altered the course of the war if it had gone as planned. “What would the world have looked like if Lee had sacked D.C., if the South had won—that just always fascinated me.”

Malcolm and Nichelle, who are black, said the material is “deeply personal because we are the offspring of this history. We deal with it directly and have for our entire lives. We deal with it in Hollywood, we deal with it in the real world when we’re dealing with friends and family members.”

That, of course, hits upon the heart of the backlash. Considering the way slavery indelibly impacted the course of the country—its effects can still be felt everywhere from the prison system to segregation to fair housing—many wondered why we need a TV series that further explores the institution in this particular manner. No matter how sensitively its creators attempt to approach this material, any such alternate history risks being seen as revisionist porn for white supremacists and people who still romanticize Civil War imagery—the sort who protest every time another Confederate statue is torn down in a Southern state.