The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is going to be giving Oppenheimer vibes, according to showrunner Patrick McKay. ComicBook got a chance to speak with the cast and crew of The Rings of Power Season 2, and one of the big focuses of that discussion was the show actually getting to its titular subject: the Rings of Power. Mainstream viewers probably remember the One Ring of Sauron, which was the major MacGuffin of director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy; however, Rings of Power Season 2 will be getting so much deeper into the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien, explore the creation of the rings and exploring how their ill-fated power works.
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When asked about how The Rings of Power Season 2 creative team approached the depiction of the rings’ power, Patrick McKay pointed to the example of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer as a thematic blueprint:
“Part of the fun of Season 2 is you’re in the room where the decisions are made and the rings are being built,” McKay explained. “However, you’re also in the room with the people who put them on for the first time and don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. We’ve sort of been likening it to Oppenheimer: You’re dealing with this world-changing power and nobody knows exactly whether it’s going to be for good or ill. Maybe a little bit of both. And a big part of the season is watching how rings change the way elves see themselves; how it affects their world, and discovering new powers and abilities along the way. But also the dwarves, who are dealing with rings that Sauron was directly involved in their creation, and how does that affects people. So I think… what is potentially… a stumbling block is that the rings do a lot of different things. But this season, for fans and non-fans alike, you get to see for the first time – along with the characters – what they do. So hopefully it’s a great entry point for people who maybe didn’t understand the lore before.”
In case the reference needs further explanation: Nolan’s Oppenheimer looked at the pivotal life of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and all the cutting-edge theories of quantum physics that led him and his eventual team of collaborators to create the first atomic bomb, which was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, helping to end WWII. At the same time, Oppenheimer’s work helped usher in the entire Atomic Age of humanity, and with it also ushered in the threat of total nuclear annihilation, which still hangs over our world today, almost a century after Oppenheimer began working out his theories. The correlation to Sauron secretly influencing the creation of the Rings of Power and their distribution across Middle-earth is, therefore, an apt one.
The Rings of Power Season 2 stars Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani. Season 1 star Nazanin Boniadi will not be returning as the healer Bronwyn, having moved on from acting. It will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on August 29th.
