Hot on the heels of season one’s unprecedented success, season two of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power seems to be taking shape behind the scenes. How do we know? Amazon’s recent article announcing new cast members joining the show, of course.
Season one of the epic prequel to Tolkien’s iconic trilogy begins in a time of relative peace during the Second Age of the legendarium. Whilst the adaptation has certainly divided opinion – especially between those well versed in Tolkien’s lore – statistics alone prove it an undeniable triumph. With a viewership of over 100 million people worldwide and 24 billion minutes streamed, highlights of the season include: Bear McCreary’s sweeping score, breathtaking set and costume design (we’re looking at you, Númenor), and the devoted cast who clearly know their characters inside out.
With season one’s cast already having set such a high bar, the new cast members joining for season two are doing so under fierce scrutiny. Amazon has chosen to keep their cards close to its chest, withholding the details of who’s playing who. Predictably, this has triggered intense speculation on social media, but the main topic of conversation seems to be the ambiguous motives for the recast of fan-favourite, Adar.
Originated by Joseph Mawle (Game of Thrones) in season one, orc leader Adar firmly cemented himself as one of the show’s most compelling characters – quite a feat considering he is one of few original characters and not adapted from book canon. Amazon have not addressed the reason for the recast, but rumours on social media attribute it to unexpected scheduling clashes. Following the announcement, Mawle tweeted:
Many have also taken to Twitter to express their sadness: “I respect Joe’s decision to move on to other things (IF it was his decision), but for me HE IS Adar”.
Replacing Mawle as Adar is Sam Hazeldine (Peaky Blinders), and he certainly has big boots to fill. However, one fan expresses a lot of the fandom’s sentiments perfectly:
Other new cast members confirmed last week include Gabriel Akuwudike (1917), Yasen “Zates” Atour (The Witcher), Ben Daniels (The Crown), Amelia Kenworthy who will be making her television debut in Rings of Power, Nia Towle (Persuasion,) and Nicholas Woodeson (Skyfall). A further announcement this morning confirmed they will be joined by Oliver Alvin-Wilson (Murder in Provence), Stuart Bowman (Bodyguard), Gavi Singh Chera (The Undeclared War), William Chubb (Vampire Academy), Kevin Eldon (The Last Kingdom), Will Keen (Ridley Road), Selina Lo (Boss Level) and Calam Lynch (Bridgerton).
Filming for season two is now underway, produced by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. The release date has not yet been confirmed, but we know how we’ll be spending our time waiting: by watching season one over and over again. Obsessed? Us? Never.
Words by Kate Padley
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.