Amazon’s highly anticipated Lord of the Rings spinoff is finally revealing minor details to a fanbase absolutely starved of fresh content.
A synopsis for the upcoming series, which is set to premiere on Prime Video on Sept. 2, 2022, revealed that it will feature the return — or since it’s a prequel, the introduction — of Sauron, the Dark Lord. Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay praised the series as “a title that we imagine could live on the spine of a book next to J.R.R. Tolkien’s other classics.”
“The Rings of Power unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men,” they went on to say. “Until now, audiences have only seen on-screen the story of the One Ring — but before there was one, there were many… and we’re excited to share the epic story of them all.”
The Second Age in Middle Earth was a busy time, as noted by the showrunners, and lore established in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series sets the stage for plenty of robust storytelling in The Rings of Power. Previous synopses teased that the series would take place in the Second Age when the 20 rings of power were forged, but side-stepped hints toward Sauron’s inclusion. As noted by the Hollywood Reporter, the latest reveal derails fan theories that Sauron’s destructive rise to power would be discluded from the show.
Alongside the official synopsis, Amazon also released a teaser trailer revealing the series name and showcasing some of the incredible visuals fans can expect from the series.
A previously released description of the series teased that “This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.”
The upcoming show has an utterly massive budget, as noted by THR, with the first season alone costing an estimated $465 million. This has spurred fans to attach high hopes to the fantasy series, which — should it treat its source material with the care it deserves — is almost guaranteed to be a work of art.
The series will star a number of incredible actors, including Cynthia Addai-Robinson, of Arrow fame, alongside Robert Aramayo, who played a young Eddard Stark in Game of Thrones, and Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, and Tyroe Muhafidin, to name a few.