Stephen Colbert introduced the trailer at 2022 Comic Con which showcased Balrog, the infamous villain from the Tolkien novels.
The series, which hails from showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay, stars Peter Mullan, Benjamin Walker, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson alongside a large ensemble cast that fills out the Middle Earth. Rather than directly adapt Tolkien’s novels and the two trilogies of films they inspired, the series aims to expand the “Lord of the Rings” mythology by fleshing out Tolkien’s appendices and footnotes. If the creative team can exceed the high expectations that will inevitably follow the show, it has the potential to richly expand fans’ understanding of Tolkien’s vision. Comic Con attendees in the audience at Hall H were already treated to five clips that gave a better glimpse at Payne and McKay’s vision of Middle Earth in the Second Age. The first was of young Elrond (Robert Aramayo) facing off against dwarf prince Durin (Owain Arthur) in a battle of endurance at Khazad-dûm. Next clip was of two harfoots named Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy (Megan Richards) discovering The Stranger (Daniel Weyman) unconscious at the bottom of a crater that looks deceptively fiery. When Nori goes to help him, he grabs her, possibly passing on a vision, which sparked rumors straight from Colbert that the man may turn out to be Gandalf or Sauron. The last three clips emphasized two elf characters important to the show: Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark). While the scene of Arondir was an action-packed clip of him whipping around chains and striking down some orcs that have him captive, the two clips of Galadriel served as a reintroduction to the immortal elf first played by Cate Blanchett in the films. She first has a sweet moment with Elrond in elven territory, where he talks up her accomplishments. Then we see her seemingly as a stowaway on a ship entering Númenor, with the camera then giving a full bird’s eye view of the beautiful, doomed island of man.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” begins streaming on Prime Video on September 2. You can watch the latest trailer, which debuted at San Diego Comic-Con, below:
Marcus Jones contributed to this story. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
