“Have you heard of Sauron?”
The new trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, unveiled as part of the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, introduces the villain — as well as his mentor, Morgoth, Middle-earth’s first Dark Lord) — that fans of J.R.R. Tolkien know well. The new video is all about the darkness coming for Middle-earth and as it warns, “if the evil rising is left unchecked, it will take us all.”
“You have been told many lies of Middle-earth,” the trailer, which you can watch below, also reveals. Watch it to discover the legend that forged the rings.
In addition to that trailer, the Comic-Con panel — one of the largest single-series in its history, with 21 cast members, two showrunners, and one executive producer — also featured sneak peeks and a live orchestra and choir performance by Emmy-winning composer Bear McCreary.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power tells the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. It is set thousands of years before the events of 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. The series begins in a time of relative peace and follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared reemergence 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 breathtaking 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 features a celebrated cast led by Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is led by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay. They are joined by executive producers Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, J.A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond, and Sharon Tal Yguado, as well as producers Ron Ames and Christopher Newman. Wayne Che Yip is co-executive producer and directs, along with Bayona and Charlotte Brändström.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Series Premiere, Friday, September 2, Prime Video