Amazon flies in Lord of the Rings superfans to watch The Rings of Power

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is without a doubt one of the most anticipated new shows coming out in 2022. Even if it wasn’t a prequel to possibly the most beloved fantasy story of all time, the fact that Amazon is spending $465 million to produce the first season of this show ensures that it makes headlines. (For reference, the entirety of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movie trilogy cost $281 million.)

Does that money show up onscreen? Just ask greendragon, who writes for legendary Lord of the Rings fansite TheOneRing.net. Greendragon is one of several lucky bloggers, Tiktokkers, podcasters and more who were flown in by Amazon to see completed footage from The Rings of Power. What did they think?

Lord of the Rings superfans watch The Rings of Power footage: “The hype could be real”

To start, none of the attendees are allowed (yet) to give their specific impressions; for a while, it’s vibes only. But according to greendragon, the vibes are pretty good:

"The good news is: the hype could be real, if the complete show (or even complete scenes) maintain the quality, look and feel of the footage shown. The vibe is right, the performances are superb, and the characterizations hint at resolving long-held gripes of previous adaptations. Taking the pulse of the Tolkien fan group assembled, nearly all shared an increased hype level. The biggest fears they shared have been calmed, and this lucky group are now comfortably anticipating future drops of RoP marketing."

I would love to hear more about those fears. For my part, I worry that The Rings of Power — which is set thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings, during the Second Age of Middle-earth — is an extremely expensive cash grab put together by people more interested in having a Game of Thrones-sized hit than really respecting J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision.

But according to greendragon, the sincerity of showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne cannot be doubted. “[A]nyone who hears the showrunners speak could not doubt their respect for the writings of Tolkien, their in-depth knowledge of the legendarium, and their desire to do justice to the Middle-earth we all know and love,” they write.

"It seemed like everyone in attendance was impressed and excited by what they heard…To Patrick & J.D. – you can finally breathe easy: so far, we like what we see, and we think fans are really going to enjoy this trip into the Second Age of Middle-earth."

All of this is great to hear, particularly from true blue Lord of the Rings fans like the ones at TheOneRing.net, although a part of me wants to reserve judgment until I see the episodes for myself.

Which brings me to my final: Mr. Bezos…Jeff…if you’re reading, why not invite the folks at WinterIsComing.net to enjoy some footage from The Rings of Power? We’re big Lord of the Rings fans, we love travel, and I just bought some socks on Amazon the other day so I feel like you owe me this solid.

Love, Dan.

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