Will fans be happy about the changes and what has been revealed about The Rings of Power? Check out the details below.
Major players in Middle-earth
The casting and promo images surfaced that sets up the key roles in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power:
Robert Aramayo – Elrond Morfydd Clark – Galadriel Charles Edwards – Celebrimbor Sophia Nomvete – Disa Benjamin Walker – Gil-galad Nazanin Boniadi – Bronwyn Owain Arthur – Durin IV Maxim Baldry – Isildur Ismael Cruz Cordova – Arondir
Other cast members include Lenny Henry, Simon Merrelis, Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards, Charlie Vickers, Daniel Weyman, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Ian Blackburn, Beau Cassidy, Kip Chapman, Amelie Child-Villiers, Fabian McCallum, Geoff Morrell, Tyroe Muhafidin, Peter Mullan, Lloyd Owen, Augustus Prew, Dylan Smith, Anthony Crum, Maxine Cunliffe, Peter Tait, Alex Tarrant, Leon Wadham, Sara Zwangobani, Will Fletcher, Trystan Gravelle, Ema Horvath, Thusitha Jayasundera, and Joseph Mawle. As this is going to be set in the Second Age, it would be based on the Akallabêth from The Silmarillion. This was the unfinished series of essays, poetry, and short stories by J.R.R. Tolkien. Akallabêth, specifically, centered on the land of Númenor and its rise and fall at the hands of Morgoth’s former servant Sauron. The second part of the synopsis lines up the major conflict and scope of the story:
Dwarven women with no beards and other alterations
Related to this, there is also pushback that have been vocal on social media with the representation for actors of color, particularly playing dwarves and elves. The rationale for this negativity is that Tolkien never mentioned any of the major races of Elves and Dwarves having different ethnicity and skin color among their kind.
— Lotuseaters.com (@lotuseaters_com) February 21, 2022
The Woke Cult enjoy trying to ruin your childhood. lol https://t.co/OYuxQFfQpD — Daniel de la Fé, the Ordinary Idiot 🥚🐍 (@dandelafe) February 23, 2022
I can’t…. This is going to be such an amazing time to be alive. pic.twitter.com/n323fIQM6p — TheQuartering (@TheQuartering) February 23, 2022 Another point of negative reaction from the Tolkien fandom is that it will again be taking liberties from the source in terms of the setting and story. The chronology of events will not completely line up with the stories from Tolkien’s material. An example of this is the inclusion of the characters of Elendil and Isildur who come much later than the other characters and the show’s events.
— TheOneRing.net (@theoneringnet) October 27, 2021 This would not be surprising as Peter Jackson himself has been consulted by the showrunners. In fact, the show will be consistent with the film trilogies. According to John Howe, the conceptual designer for the series, that it would be a form of continuation and expansion of what is established in the films, adopting the look and feel that is already familiar to those who watched The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies.
Rule them all
However, the backlash from certain demographics of the Tolkien fandom might mean this is not a guaranteed home run. Still, showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne are banking on the majority of the fanbase will be pleased with the results. Moreover, they have dismissed the negative feedback in relation to the choice of increased female representation and roles in Middle-earth for actors of color, taking the cynicism with a grain of salt. Will the showrunners’ confidence be rewarded? Or will the predictions of the outspoken and loud conservative members of Tolkien’s fantasy world prove to be prophetic? The show is certainly taking the mythos of the Middle-earth to new directions that will affect the future of the beloved fantasy franchise.
