Lord of the Rings TV Show Reportedly Won't Have Sauron in First Season

According to reports, one major villain from the Lord of the Rings won't be showing up in the first season of the upcoming Amazon Prime television series. TheOneRing.net reports that Sauron, the titular Lord of the Rings himself, will not appear in the first season of the Amazon series. Per the site's spy report, "Sauron/Annatar will not be revealed in Season One [going with the oldest axiom of show business 'Always leave them wanting more.']." Amazon's Lord of the Rings show is said to be set in the Second Age of Middle-earth when Sauron reemerges from hiding under the guise of Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, bearing the nine Rings of Power as an offering to the free peoples. This report seems to suggest that the first season will be set slightly before that return, which occurs about 500 years into the age.

But Sauron and the Rings of Power do seem poised to play a role in the series as it continues. The report states that Celebrimbor, who forged the three rings given to the lords of elves, appears in the series. Tom Budge was to play the character (who appeared in spectral form in the video games Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Shadow of War), but the role is now being recast.

Sauron, as Annatar, appeared to the great elven smiths, offering to teach them the art of ring-making. Celebrimbor mistrusted him, but the other smiths were swayed, and he agreed to take part in the forgings. The elven smiths were unaware that the process Annatar taught them involved binding magic and that Sauron had secretly forged the One Ring to rule them all.

It sounds as if the Amazon series will cover a wide swath of Middle-earth history, possibly including the creation of orcs. It could be that future seasons of the show will go further into Sauron's rise to power and the War of the Last Alliance. Series star Benjamin Walker teased, during an interview with ComicBook.com, that the show will be unlike anything fans have seen before.

"Well, I'll tell you. I've done a few jobs where they say, 'You can't talk about it,'" Walker told us. "Usually, that's really annoying, because you're excited about something, and you kind of going, 'What difference does it really make?' But on this one, having spent some time building it, as excited as you are, you don't want to spoil it. People have never seen what we're doing," the actor continued. "It's going to be exciting. Even the smallest little hint about where it might be going or what it might be, it'll just take that little bit of joy out of seeing it for the first time."

What do you think? Let us know in the comments. The Lord of the Rings series is now in production.