The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is inspired by the works of author J.R.R. Tolkien only, and as amazing as Peter Jackson’s LOTR trilogy is, the prequel will try to be as original as possible. Here’s what Patrick McKay said:

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

“Anyone approaching Lord Of The Rings on screen would be wrong not to think about how wonderfully right [Jackson] got so much of it. But we’re admirers from afar, that’s it. The Rings Of Power doesn’t try to compete with him.”

Some of these changes, which were bound to happen since there isn’t much source material to refer to, have already received backlash from fans. But it was all necessary to set the series apart from other similar works. However, McKay assures that Tolkien’s distinctive vision for Middle-Earth won’t be compromised.

Empire has also released a new image from the series: the snow-troll, which briefly appeared in the first teaser. You can check it out below.

“You can psych yourself out in keeping up with the Joneses, but one of the mantras on this was ‘go back to the source material’. ‘What would Tolkien do?’ Some of these other competing properties – they play one octave really beautifully. But Tolkien was playing every note on the piano. He had that variety of tones. There’s the whimsy, friendship and humour that Harry Potter is so beloved for – but there’s sophistication, politics, history, mythology and depth, too. So for us, it was about going deeper into what we are, rather than worrying about what other folks are doing.”

     Empire

The Rings Of Power Will Clash With HBO’s House Of The Dragon This Fall

HBO executives and GoT author George R.R. Martin are confident that The Rings of Power poses no threat to their own House of the Dragon. So far, fans are loving the grounded, intense tone of House of the Dragon, and co-creator Martin has promised the series won’t disappoint. He even hopes it outperforms The Rings of Power. House of the Dragon debuts on August 21.

On the other hand, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s early reactions have also been positive, and barring a few controversies surrounding beardless female dwarfs and crew-cut elves, the series looks phenomenal. Hopefully, it’ll live up to its half-billion-dollar budget.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will debut on Prime Video on September 2, 2022.