Amazon’s highly anticipated The Lord of the Rings series has recently added 20 new cast members to its lineup.
Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Maxim Baldry, Ian Blackburn, Kip Chapman, Anthony Crum, Maxine Cunliffe, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Thusitha Jayasundera, Fabian McCallum, Simon Merrells, Geoff Morrell, Peter Mullan, Lloyd Owen, Augustus Prew, Peter Tait, Alex Tarrant, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, and Sara Zwangobani have all joined onto the project.
Other cast members announced earlier this year include Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, and Daniel Weyman.
Amazon has kept the plot of their new Middle-earth series under lock and key, giving no details on who or what we can expect to see, except that the series will take place in the Second Age, thousands of years before the stories featured in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies. The only teaser that has been sent out has been this map, which features the island of Númenor. The island of Númenor has a grand legacy in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, so its appearance is noteworthy, leading many to believe we will see the rise and fall of this legendary place and people.
The Second Age in Tolkien’s sweeping tales of Middle-earth is the Age in which the Rings of Power, including the One Ring, came to be. The Second Age saw the rise of the Númenóreans (which Aragorn’s lineage can be traced to) and of Sauron and the Ringwraiths, along with the wars of the Rings between Sauron and the Elves. This period ended with the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, where Isildur cut the One Ring from the hand of the Dark Lord, a moment we see in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
The series has begun production in New Zealand and has already been renewed for a second season. The series has a five-year production commitment at Amazon. No release date has been set.
