The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Teaser Trailer Reveals First Footage of Amazon’s Series

The long-awaited first teaser for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is here. Premiering during the Super Bowl, the short trailer reveals the first footage from the series that Amazon has reportedly spent oodles and oodles of money on (already renewing the show for multiple seasons in the process).

But money doesn’t always equal quality. Fantasy shows do cost more on the whole, but an over-reliance on CG is not a good look. And this first look… has a lot of CG.

Now, I am on record as thinking the title for the series is pretty boring, but I’ve already seen a lot of complaints about elven hair length and whether or not the series looks fully blasphemous regarding LOTR and/or J.R.R. Tolkien’s vast Silmarillion. Obviously this series has a lot riding on it, and will be picked apart by an obsessive fandom. But the biggest mistake the show could make is not that it steps on lore, but that its potential gets lost in a hollow desire for four-quadrant appeal. We are in an unprecedented time of fantasy TV shows on the virtual dial—hopefully The Rings of Power doesn’t kill that momentum, and can somehow harness the whimsy of The Hobbit novel and the grandeur of Lord of the Rings in process. (And be more like The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Anyone? Anyone? Sigh, RIP.) If so, we’ll really be in for something. And I’m not sure anything less will be deemed acceptable.

According to a press release,

?Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and one of the greatest villains that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf capital of Lindon, to the breath-taking island kingdom of Númenor, to the farthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone. 

The series will be led by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay; Wayne Che Yip will serve as co-executive producer, and directs along with J.A. Bayona and Charlotte Brändström.

The Rings of Power will premiere September 2nd on Prime Video, with new episodes available weekly. Check out the teaser trailer below:

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