The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power - What We Know So Far

The "Rings of Power" series features a loaded cast. This makes sense, since the sprawling story will feature tons of different Tolkienian characters. Some of these have been made up for the show, like the cryptic Man Halbrand (played by Charlie Vickers) and the Dwarven Princess Disa (played by Sophia Nomvete). The Silvan Elf Arondir (played by Cruz Córdova), the proto-Hobbit "Harfoot" Nori Brandyfoot (played by Markella Kavenagh), and the woman healer Bronwyn (played by Nazanin Boniadi) are also new to the Middle-earth fold.

Alongside these creative additions, we also get a slew of characters that are well-established in Tolkien's works, played by a lineup of first-rate talent. Here are just a few of the biggest names, along with the character that they'll portray on the screen: Morfydd Clark (Galadriel), Benjamin Walker (Gil-galad), Robert Aramayo (Elrond), Charles Edwards (Celebrimbor), Maxim Baldry (Isildur), and Owain Arthur (Prince Durin IV).

Others in the show's considerable lineup of talent include Lenny Henry (Sadoc Burrows), Trystan Gravelle (Pharazôn), Peter Mullan (Durin III), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Queen Regent Míriel), Lloyd Owen (Elendil) — and that's just a small sampling of the massive cast list. On top of that, the studio has brought in some top-shelf directorial talent. Thus far, the first season has been helmed by J.A. Bayona, Wayne Yip, and Charlotte Brändström, who directed two-to-four episodes apiece.

The best part about this massive collection of talent is that very few of these names are so big that they'll hog the spotlight. If done well, this leaves the door open for the actors to meld into their characters without too many overly-recognizable faces hogging the screen or the headlines.

After the initial title reveal and Super Bowl trailer, there was another period of relative quiet from the Prime Video marketing team. Exclusive articles were released in a steady stream, but actual footage from the show remained at a premium. Little teasers were posted from time to time on social media, but most of them merely recycled already-seen footage. At one point, a clip in Portuguese was accidentally leaked, but it was quickly wiped from internet existence.

However, on July 8, a 60-second teaser officially dropped, ending with an announcement that another teaser would be arriving on the 14th of that same month. When that day arrived, fans refreshed their browsers with bated breath and were rewarded at last with a full two-and-a-half-minute trailer that went deep into the details.

The second trailer focuses on the passage of time. Elves discuss past glory and failures. Men speak of moving forward and leaving the past behind. Dwarves, who are in their prime during "Rings of Power," talk of a new era to come.

The trailer also puts the show's incredible production quality on full display. Scene after scene was shown, shifting from jaw-dropping panoramas to lively civilizations. Orcs flash on the screen for a moment. Elrond and Galadriel verbally spar over their tragic past experiences. The High-Elven King Gil-galad utters foreboding words about an impending evil. After months of virtually nothing to gauge how the show was going to feel, the second trailer effectively functioned as a full-blown reveal of how epic the "Rings of Power" experience could be.

One of the biggest concerns of any onscreen fantasy or sci-fi adaptation is how the show will utilize CGI. Even within the hallowed world of Middle-earth, overuse of computer graphics has already wreaked havoc on "The Hobbit" trilogy. Fortunately, "Rings of Power" addressed this very real concern starting from right from the get-go.

When the show's title reveal video was released, we saw that it features molten metal pouring through the chasms of a mold. Fog is everywhere. Water flows across, cooling the material. After the fact, a behind-the-scenes video was released showing everything from the mold to fog machines and even the pouring of real, bona fide molten metal. It was a great way to showcase the series' commitment to practical effects.

Since that time, the cast and showrunners have relentlessly reinforced the idea that "Rings of Power" isn't doing the bulk of its filming in front of a green screen. Everything from costumes to sets are very real, in the same spirit as Peter Jackson's venerated two-decade-old "LOTR" trilogy. Celebrimbor actor Charles Edwards explained (via Fandom) that he was astonished, bowled over, and couldn't contain his excitement when he first walked on set. The show built an enormous water tank (via Collider) to use as it filmed its sea-borne adventures. At every turn, it's been abundantly clear that the production crew is putting the show's ridiculously massive budget to use in the best ways they can think of.

Most shows need to approach production one season at a time. If they do a good job, the ratings are sufficient, and any number of other necessary factors pan out favorably, another season is greenlit, and they can commence work on a new portion of the story. Not so with "Rings of Power." This is a series that has a five-season story arc already fully planned from beginning to end.

According to showrunner J.D. Payne, "We even know what our final shot of the last episode is going to be. This was a big story with a clear beginning, middle and end. There are things in the first season that don't pay off until Season 5." This show's ability to plan out its entire saga without any season-to-season concerns about being renewed is refreshing. It means everyone from the actors to the writers to the directors can fully invest themselves in the long haul. It also means we can expect to see lots of seeds planted that won't bear fruit until years from now. In fact, the initial season has consistently been described as an introductory template that will lay the groundwork and introduce a largely new audience — with the obvious exception of the diehard vanguard of Tolkien fandom that already knows the story by heart — to the hitherto untouched Second Age of Tolkien's legendarium.

Everyone loves the Ents. The tree-folk are a fan-favorite element of "The Lord of the Rings" story. They also play a critical role in the War of the Ring by thrashing Isengard, freeing up our other heroes to go fight Sauron and even fighting some of the Dark Lord's Orcs while Aragorn and company are away fighting on the field of the Pelennor and at the Black Gate.

While they're certainly important in the Third Age, the events we see in "The Lord of the Rings" really amount to little more than a last hurrah for the group of arboreal people. In fact, the most important part of Treebeard and his species' story happens during the Second Age, which is when "The Rings of Power" is set.

From the get-go, this prompted a crucial question — will the Ents be in the show? It's an inquiry that was officially answered in early July when a "Rings of Power" teaser showed the tree-folk for the first time. Partway through the clip, a mysterious fireball is shown streaking through the sky overhead. As the camera pans down, it shows a distinctly humanoid tree-like figure in the shot. Two taller trees on either side of it also start moving. 

This quick and subtle reveal all but confirms that Ents will be in the show. Not only that, if the two taller trees are parents, we could be looking at an Ent child, known as an Enting, and its parents — a traditional Ent and an Entwife.

"The Rings of Power" has its work cut out for itself when it comes to filling its iteration of Middle-earth with compelling, relatable characters. Why? Because Tolkien never wrote much about this period of his world's history. Instead, he focused on outline-level material, much of which the showrunners and writers have had to connect and fill in to create enough substance for a 50-hour story.

Part of that process has been inventing new characters. This is an absolute necessity since there are very few names in the source material, but it's also a task that is fraught with peril. Inventing characters out of whole cloth and expecting them to stand toe-to-toe with the deep, thoughtful characters created by the original author is a tall order. It's a requirement that automatically comes with taking on a task like this one, but it remains to be seen if Prime Video's new personalities will be able to hold their own in Middle-earth.

Hobbits have no place in the larger stories of Middle-earth before the Third Age. At least, that's what Tolkien wrote. One area where the "Rings of Power" narrative seems set to deviate from the source material, though, is with this subject of Halfling history. The show has been careful to honor the fact that Third Age Hobbits really do live entirely outside of the story. However, they've taken a leap by choosing to incorporate Harfoots into their own Second Age narrative.

Who are Harfoots? Why, they're proto-Hobbits, of course! Seriously. The prologue to "The Fellowship of the Ring" states that "Before the crossing of the [Misty Mountains] the Hobbits had already become divided into three somewhat different breeds: Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides." Now, this is still referencing very late Hobbit history, much later than the time of "Rings of Power." Nevertheless, the show has gone ahead and incorporated a group of Halflings, which they're calling the Harfoots, into the story.

If you're picturing overweight, comfortable Hobbits living in well-tended holes in the Shire, you're wrong. The Harfoots are nomadic. They're survivors. And they aren't anywhere near their descendants' comfortable chunk of idyllic rural countryside. While a lot of details remain to be seen, it will be fascinating to see how the show tries to work a group of Halflings into a story where Tolkien himself clearly never intended to have them involved.