The writers of The Rings of Power, the epic spin-off television series from The Lord of the Rings coming to Amazon Prime later this year, have reassured fans that it will be family friendly – “Tolkien is for everyone.”
Back in 2020, Tolkien aficionados became concerned after hearing that an intimacy coordinator had been hired for The Rings of Power, leading to concerns that the show would be trying to replicate the success of Game of Thrones, which included graphic sex scenes. However, intimacy coordinators can be used for scenes that just feature kissing or brief non-sexual nudity, so the outrage was probably unfounded.
Now, the writers have added their reassurance that the show will be suitable for most ages. In a new extremely long, detailed and comprehensive article in Vanity Fair, writer Patrick McKay says that the goal was; “to make a show for everyone, for kids who are 11, 12, and 13, even though sometimes they might have to pull the blanket up over their eyes if it’s a little too scary.”
McKay continues; “We talked about the tone in Tolkien’s books. This is material that is sometimes scary—and sometimes very intense, sometimes quite political, sometimes quite sophisticated—but it’s also heartwarming and life-affirming and optimistic. It’s about friendship and it’s about brotherhood and underdogs overcoming great darkness.”
The show will be a lot more diverse than how we’ve seen Middle Earth depicted before – most notably in Peter Jackson’s hugely successful and influential Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sophia Nomvete plays the dwarven princess Disa, Ismael Cruz Córdova plays the silvan elf Arondir and Lenny Henry plays a harfoot elder.
Executive producer Lindsey Weber said that “Tolkien is for everyone” and added that they had felt the series should “reflect what the world actually looks like” as Tolkien’s stories are “about his fictional races doing their best work when they leave the isolation of their own cultures and come together”.
While we wait the long, interminable months until The Rings of Power is released in September, check out our guide the best fantasy movies.