The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power bosses are already planning season 3

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is a strange beast. It's a prequel to The Lord of the Rings story we all know, set thousands of years before Frodo and Sam were born during the Second Age of Middle-earth. It depicts events author J.J.R. Tolkien described in his book The Silmarillion, but it's not actually based off The Silmarillion; it's based on the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, because intellectual property rights are weird. And it adds or changes so much material that calling it "based on" anything is kind of a stretch. Amazon spent a ton of money on the first season of the show and it was a ratings winner, but it also got a lot of pushback from unimpressed fans. The second season wrapped on filming a while ago and is expected to come out this year, but we still have no idea when.

Things have been so quiet that we've wondered if Amazon wasn't downplaying The Rings of Power after a first season that was successful, but maybe not to the extent that Amazon wanted given the price tag. But in a recent press release, the company announced that they've extended their deal with Patrick McKay and JD Payne, the showrunners behind seasons 1 and 2. "We can’t wait for Prime Video customers to experience the epic adventure and high-stakes drama that JD and Patrick are continuing to build throughout season two and beyond," said Amazon MGM Studios executive Vernon Sanders. "Naturally, the studio is thrilled to extend our overall deal with these brilliant creative minds as they continue to deliver on their passion for great storytelling.”

The most interesting thing about the press release to me is the "beyond" bit. We still don't know when The Rings of Power season 2 is coming, but according to the release, McKay and Payne have started to break the initial story outline for season 3, although a formal writers room has not been opened.

Honestly, given how long it takes to produce a big-budget fantasy show like The Rings of Power, the fact that they're not further along is still a mite bit worrying. In recent years, TV fans have had to get used to long waits between new seasons of their favorite shows, but they've never liked it. If Amazon was 100% happy with The Rings of Power, I suspect planning on season 3 would be further along by now.

But at least the gears are turning. Now all we need is a release date for season 2. The second season of House of the Dragon, HBO's Game of Thrones prequel show, is coming out sometime this summer. Perhaps Amazon will want to air The Rings of Power alongside that show, and we'll have a rematch between these two fantasy titans.

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