Empire Magazine Debuts Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Covers

Amazon’s upcoming TV series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is doing a big promotional push right now, as seen in the latest covers for Empire Magazine. While the cover photoshoots are impressive in their Medieval fantasy gravitas, they also come with some insights and details that are not necessarily giving hardcore fans of J.R.R. Tolkien books feelings of confidence in this new adaptation. For instance, the image of actress Morfydd Clark as Galadriel depicts a hardened warrior in full armor – a far cry from the earthy and aetherial version of Galadriel Cate Blanchett played in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit films. 

Captions on the image like Clark stating “Don’t expect the same Galadriel” has only left longtime Tolkien fans with more to complain about – if not turning against this new Amazon Lord of the Rings series – before it even begins! 

 The second Empire cover for Lord of the Rings focuses on the Dwarf kingdom, while a third cover looks in on the Hobbits, and a final cover gives us concept art of a snow-troll. 

Despite some trolling from fans online, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has already generated some positive buzz, after the first critical reactions were released last month: 

“Let’s not bury the lede, writes The One Ring.net. “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power looks like it should, sounds like it should, and feels like a return to the comfortable universe we all love.”

@LOTROnPrime had me and @tolkienprof to London last week to see bits of the#RingsofPower, Tolkien’s Oxford, & to meet the show runners, who kept up with the best of us. Their passion & knowledge made me feel like they were one of us;they get it. I’m feeling very optimistic!” —Dr. Maggie Parke, PhD, “expert in fan management Script, story, and novel development… Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, King Arthur, Twilight, Fantasy and adaptation In general…

This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone. -Amazon Studios

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will begin streaming on Prime Video on September 2nd.