The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 just wrapped up, with the cast and creative team offering plenty of reveals about the new season ahead of its early September release.
Cast Members Morfydd Clark, Charles Edwards, Rob Aramayo, Ben Walker, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charlie Vickers, Nazanin Boniadi, Tyroe Muhafindin, Daniel Weyman, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Trystan Gravelle, Maxin Baldry, Ema Horvath, Lloyd Owen, Leon Wadham , Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Sara Zwangobani, Sophia Nomvete and Owain Arthur and showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay were all on duty as fans received an extensive preview of the new show, which cost $465 million to make. .
Despite a new trailer debuting just eight days ago as part of Prime Day 2022, fans were treated to a second full trailer, and this time Sauron, the villain who dominates so much of JRR Tolkien’s narrative universe, was on display. Click below to watch:
Unlike the previous teaser, which didn’t reveal much in terms of plot, the new trailer offers a lot of Sauron, as well as Galadriel’s origins from Clark, the role played by Cate Blanchett in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. Anson Boon, most recently seen in Pistol, appears as one of the physical manifestations of the Dark Lord Sauron, weaving mischief and terror across Middle-earth.
The panel, which was moderated by presenter Stephen Colbert, saw the premiere of five exclusive scenes from the show, including a first look at the prologue, while songwriter Bear McCreary, newly confirmed as the show’s songwriter, performed live accompanied by an orchestra. and a choir in front of a crowd of 6,000 at Comic-Con’s famous Hall H.
#LOTR panel at #SDCC begins with composer Bear McCreary conducting an orchestra pic.twitter.com/kIDErEN6FEJuly 22, 2022
Payne and McKay opened (via USA Today) (opens in new tab) on how they pitched the show, revealing the extensive audition process each character went through.
“We saw hundreds of people for each role. Thousands in all,” Payne said. “We had two criteria: they had to perform excellently, and two, we had to look them in the eye and say, ‘Do they have Middle-earth in them?'”
Payne also expanded on the show’s outline and how it differs from Peter Jackson’s hugely successful film trilogy. He added: “It’s a human story – how far into the dark are you willing to go to achieve good. The world is in a different state, the Second Age. It is about reintroducing this world and there is a new evil. We didn’t want to do a spin-off – we wanted to find a great Tolkien epic.”
McKay added that the show will have wide appeal but won’t skimp on scares, telling Hall H: “[We wanted to] put on a show for everyone, for 11, 12 and 13 year olds even though sometimes they might have to pull the blanket over their eyes if it’s a little scary. “We talked about the tone in Tolkien’s books. This is material that is sometimes scary – and sometimes very intense, sometimes quite political, sometimes quite sophisticated – but it’s also moving, affirmative and optimistic. It’s about friendship and fraternity and underdogs overcoming the great darkness.”
For more content on The Rings of Power, read about how The Rings of Power will show us a Middle-earth we’ve never seen before. Alternatively, find out why Amazon’s Lord of the Rings didn’t try to copy Peter Jackson’s iconic The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
San Diego Comic-Con 2022 continues tonight with Marvel Studios Head of Streaming, Television and Animation Brad Winderbaum and Head of Visual Development Ryan Meinerding delivering exclusive looks from X-Men 97, Marvel Zombies, What If…? season 2, and much more.
Check back tomorrow as Warner Brothers will screen Black Adam and Shazam: Fury of the Gods, as well as Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige who will reveal new plans for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
