Are people as hyped for The Rings of Power as for House of the Dragon?

It’s time for another edition of Take the Black, the weekly chat show where we break down all things sci-fi, fantasy, movies and TV. And there is a lot to break down these days.

On this week’s episode, Daniel Roman and I sort through some of the fallout from the series premiere of House of the Dragon. How did it do? How did people react? How does this bode for the series? We also give some time to House of the Dragon’s main rival: the upcoming Amazon series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. What did we think of the new trailer? Is the hype as high for this one as for HBO’s new series? Why or why not? And beyond that, we give our thoughts on She-Hulk as well as hit a smattering of other stories.

It’s a lot to sort through! Let’s get to it below:

Critics love what they’ve seen on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Neither Daniel nor I are personally that amped for The Rings of Power, or at least, not as amped as we’d like to be. That said, many critics have now seen the first two episodes and their initial social media impressions are pretty glowing:

• @LaurenSarner: “I had been skeptical…but I was very pleasantly surprised. It is actually good! Very good! Visuals & tone are just right. IMO, a great addition to the Tolkien world.”
• @AndrewJ626: “I can now say that the first 2 episodes of #TheRingsOfPower are as cinematic as fantasy can be on TV. Feels made especially for Tolkien fans and is as *epic* as LOTR should be. JA Bayona and cinematographer Óscar Faura continue to make magic together, a real dream duo.”
• @EricFrancisco24: “Morfydd Clark (from criminally underseen Saint Maud) shines as a fierce and ethereal Galadriel. As do Owain Arthur (Durin IV) and Ismael Cruz Córdova (Arondir). There’s a lot of characters who’ve yet to appear but #RingsofPower has already given me “faves” I want to follow along.”
• @GermainLussier: “The Lord of the Rings: #TheRingsOfPower instantly captured my imagination w/ captivating stories & characters in a Middle Earth that’s both familiar & new. The story/setup is so dense, however, the pacing in EPs 1 & 2 is rather slow, but it definitely leaves you wanting more.”
• @PNemiroff: “Two episodes of #TheRingsOfPower in and … so far, so good! The production value is pretty remarkable. One breathtaking visual after the next, and the level of detail in the costume and production design is something else.”
• @megsokay: “So far, it’s incredibly fun and promising, but moreover, gorgeous. Watch on the biggest screen you can.”

And so on.

The Rings of Power premieres on September 2! We could have a fantasy battle for the ages brewing here. If both this show and House of the Dragon deliver, everybody wins.

The Take the Black Podcast is on iTunes and Google Play! Please subscribe and download from there if you can. Also, you can help us out by giving us a five-star rating and leaving a friendly comment! We’re also now on Spreaker, so try us there, as well.

We record episodes of Take the Black live every Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. CST on the WinterIsComing Facebook and YouTube channels. On top of that, we’re also doing Sunday night shows to break down every new episode of House of the Dragon after they air. Watch those in the same places at 9:30 p.m. CST every Sunday!

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