New Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power photos tease Amazon’s epic prequel

Super Bowl Sunday will see the release of the first trailer for Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Ring. It was an appropriate progression for the franchise’s story. A metal-cast title reveal was followed by a mysterious character posters, and now we’ve got our first look at the prequel characters in action. Morfydd Cleck plays Galadriel young (Saint Maud() appears to be star, as her escape from explosive fire and not giving an eff sign is anything.

J.D. and Patrick McKay, the showrunners announced the title. Patrick McKay and Payne set the expectations for their prequel series. It will follow the Second Age of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. The fall 2022 series “unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord, the epic tale of Numenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Until now, audiences have only seen onscreen 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.”

And who’s involved? There are reportedly 22 main characters in the series — here are just a few of the core cast members.

Grid View

The Lord of the Rings – The Rings of Power lineup looks a little familiar — but only a little. Jumping back 2,000 years means Gandalf and the hobbit crew won’t be around for this adventure. Galadriel is now back, as played by Cate Blanchett, in the Peter Jackson trilogy. Based on a new report from Vanity Fair, she’s hunting down the collaborators of the recently defeated first great Dark Lord, Morgoth (his apprentice, Sauron, has gone off the grid). Other characters include Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur), denizen of the underground kingdom of Khazad-dûm (aka Moria); Disa (Sophia Nomvete), a dwarven princess; Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova), a newly invented elven character; and young Elrond (Robert Aramayo), who by VF’s account is “politically ambitious.”

The pre-Super Bowl feature also digs into the development of the series, from how Payne and MacKay carved out a deeper narrative from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings appendices, and some early behind-the-scenes drama that plagued the production. And while details on the what, where, why, and when of the show are still under wraps, we know a bit more about the who going into the trailer — including the promise that it isn’t Lord of the Rings without some kind of hobbit representation.

“One of the very specific things the texts say is that hobbits never did anything historic or noteworthy before the Third Age,” McKay tells Vanity Fair. “But really, does it feel like Middle-earth if you don’t have hobbits or something like hobbits in it?”

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of PowerAmazon launches the premieres in September.