Lord Of The Rings fans, prepare yourself for a whole new batch of excitement, thanks to the series prequel, The Rings of Power. After season one dropped on Prime Video all the way back in September 2022, with instalments dropping over a six week period, a second season was confirmed.
So here's what we know about Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power season 2, from expected release date to cast and more.
When will The Rings of Power season 2 be released?
TIME first reported that The Rings of Power season 2 began filming in October 2022, while news has been a little quiet since then. That was until February 2024, when The Hollywood Reporter shared that new episodes would be dropping later this year. Wahoo! They said:
"The show’s second season has wrapped filming and will be released later this year. While a third season hasn’t officially been ordered and a writers room has not yet opened, the showrunners have started to break the initial story outline."
And now we have the official confirmation we'll be getting the first of the new episodes on 29th August 2024. Is is too soon to start wishing summer away?
Is there a trailer for The Rings of Power season 2?
Yes there is! On 14th May Prime Video released the full length trailer for the upcoming season, and in it we see the return of Sauron, this time in the disguise of Annatar, and now we could not be more ready for a new season.
Watch the full trailer here:
Who will star in The Rings of Power season 2?
In March 2023 Prime Video confirmed three more iconic actors will be joining the cast with Game Of Thrones' Ciarán Hinds, Bank of Dave's Rory Kinnear and Tanya Moodie from Motherland all set to have recurring roles in the upcoming season. So far there's no word on who they will be playing.
In December 2022, Prime announced a whole host of actors joining the cast for season two. Those includes His Dark Materials' Will Keen, Oliver Alvin-Wilson from Lovesick, The Pact's Stuart Bowman and Gavi Singh Chera from Vera.
The line up also includes The Sandman's William Chubb, Shadow and Bone star Kevin Eldon, Selina Lo and Bridgerton's Calam Lynch, who played Theo in season two.
The season one main cast includes the likes of Morfydd Clark (Galadriel), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Míriel), Markella Kavenagh (Nori Brandyfoot), Robert Aramayo (Elrond), and Ismael Cruz Córdova (Arondir). So, here's hoping that most of the S1 cast will return for season two, providing there aren't too many tragedies of course.
One favourite Lord of the Rings character has been notably missing from season one of The Rings of Power - and that's the wise Círdan. However, showrunner JD Payne has revealed that Círdan will be returning in season 2, though there's no word on casting just yet.
Payne told TIME, "We don’t want to give too much away, but one character we’re excited for folks to meet in Season 2 is Círdan the Shipwright. In the time of our story, he’s the oldest of all known elves in Middle-earth - in fact he lived so long, he had a beard."
When was The Rings of Power season 2 confirmed?
Prime Video confirmed that two seasons of The Rings of Power were in the works during 2022, according to reports.
And even better: producers have revealed that they've got stories planned for five whole seasons, despite only two being officially confirmed by Prime. Showrunner JD Payne previously told Empire, "We even know what our final shot of the last episode is going to be. The rights that Amazon bought were for a 50-hour show. They knew from the beginning that was the size of the canvas – this was a big story with a clear beginning, middle and end. There are things in the first season that don’t pay off until season 5."
What have producers said about The Rings of Power season 2?
While the original Lord of the Rings films and season one of The Rings of Power were famously filmed in New Zealand, producers have revealed that won't be the case for season two. Reports have claimed that S2 is set to be filmed in the UK instead.
Showrunner Patrick McKay told The Playlist, "I think if we answered in too much detail, we’d spoil where the journey is going in future episodes. Suffice to say in the story, in Tolkien’s world, journeys to other lands are a major recurring theme."
"The other thing I would say is Tolkien was writing about the British Isles," he added. "He was writing about his own backyard and his description of the nature and the air here and the light here and the grass here is a huge part of those books. And I think the opportunity to kind of bring the property home feels like one that’s pregnant with possibilities."
