Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Series Casts Its Villain

Amazon’s much-anticipated, book-adapted series Lord of the Rings has added another vital piece to its cast. Joining confirmed members Will Poulter and Markella Kavenagh is Game of Thrones alum Joseph Mawle.

Deadline reports that Mawle is expected to play the series’ lead villain, Oren. Preproduction efforts have begun, and production is slated to begin in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2020. Amazon has been keeping fairly tight-lipped about the forthcoming series, refusing to comment on reports about Mawle’s casting—a fair call when one considers how big the series is expected to get, with the total cost for the LOTR series possibly reaching as high as $1 billion. J.A. Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) is confirmed to direct the first two episodes and will executive produce alongside Belén Atienza.

English actor Mawle is best-known for his role in as Benjen Stark in the wildly popular HBO series Game of Thrones. He also starred in BBC’s MotherFatherSon with Richard Gere.

While we don’t know much yet about the series, you can check out the cryptic map the series’ Twitter account posted earlier this year, and catch up on all the latest here.