Anyone who is a fan of the Lord of the Rings movies, particularly those that grew up with the films and are now adults, are impatiently awaiting the release of the Amazon series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Though not much has yet to be shared about the series, it already shows the promise of being a show that finds a balance between nostalgia and new content.
With there even being word that parts of the show will nod to Peter Jackson’s world from the films, despite the fact that he had no involvement in the series, feedback from fans of the movies has been mostly optimistic so far. It is, of course, going to be a difficult feat for Amazon to do justice to both Tolkien’s work and Jackson’s, but audiences seem hopeful, despite some reluctance to expand on the story further.
Already, the show has hopes of being popular as it was intentionally written to rival the success of the Game of Thrones fantasy series. It certainly has the potential to achieve this, given that the stories of the series are not only based on a book, but an entire world that was created with its own beings and languages. Essentially, It has an entirely mapped out world with mapped out characters, which alone gives the creators of the series an advantage in bringing it to life.
Though many viewers of the show will already be fans of Tolkien’s world, there are enough new features in the series to appeal to a whole new group of viewers, as well. For starters, the show will be set in the second age of Middle Earth, which predates both the tales of the Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy, and will follow stories from the Silmarillion. Some tales will explore the origin stories of some already familiar characters, but all the tales will contribute to the future stories that make up the Hobbit and the trilogy, as the series follows all of the rings of power, rather than just the one ring. That being said, the series will undeniably contribute to fans’ understanding of the world and the stories they’re familiar with.
There will be almost entirely new faces that make up the cast too, though there are several well-known actors among them. While many actors have joined the team, not many have revealed who they will be playing, though there is word on who might be playing who for a handful of stars. Morfydd Clark will be playing a younger version of Galadriel; Simon Merrels is said to be playing; a character named Trevyn; Lenny Henry’s revealed that he will be playing a Harfoot Hobbit; Joseph Mawle will likely be playing a character named Oren; and, Markella Kavenagh may be playing a character named Tyra. Beyond these names, there is a long list of actors that have been added to the team, though no indication of who they’ll be playing has been made at this point.
There is also word of several things that the show is already openly bringing to the table, like new filming locations in the UK for season two, new lands that the movies didn’t explore, hobbits will be present but will likely play a much different role, Sauron’s character will be more directly involved in this storyline, and there may even be some adult content. Again, while not much has been concretely confirmed, fans are sure that there will be some noticeable differences.
Beyond just having tons of new storyline to offer fans that contributes to the greater story of Middle Earth, there are several features of this show that seem to explicitly cater to a modern audience. For one, it examines a time of Middle Earth’s history that focuses on a time where the beings of Middle Earth must work together to defeat the common threat. This point certainly feels like a relevant message for a time during a pandemic.
Second, it has made several progressive moves so that it is more relevant to today’s society. For example, the films unfortunately lacked much diversity among the beings of the world or the cast, but Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power has already included a few actors that are people of color that will play more significant roles. Also, there will be more involved female characters in this series than the films.
There are some fans that are bothered by the progressive changes made to the tales because it doesn’t appeal to the more “traditional” English components of the stories. However, this view of the changes fails to consider some important points. To begin, when any story is adapted to a screen format, it is inevitably going to undergo several big changes both structurally and culturally. Further, progressive changes to the story and characters will certainly make the series more relatable and appealing to a broader audience. In other words, if any fans are lost due to these changes, they will most easily be replaced by new fans who are drawn to those very changes.
It should be noted that while there are several changes to the content of the story, there are a few changes and points to bear in mind when beginning the series. Most importantly, there will only be one episode released per week, so viewers will have to cope with not being able to binge the show. Also, it should be pointed out that this series has no association with Warner Brother’s coming LOTR anime film, Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. All these points aside, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power have plenty to offer new and returning fans, for hopefully, years to come.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episode one will premiere on Amazon Prime on September 2nd, 2022.