Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Lord of the Rings fans make same Peter Jackson request as Rings of Power arrives

Viewers are taking umbrage with one particular criticism of series

Jacob Stolworthy
Friday 02 September 2022 06:34 EDT
Comments
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Lord of the Rings fans are making a request about Peter Jackson following the release of The Rings of Power

The high-profile new series was released on Friday (2 September) on Prime Video, showcasing a part of JRR Tolkien’s world that was yet to be depicted on screen.

The Rings of Power, which has been in the works since 2017, is set thousands of years before Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Jackson is not involved in the making of the series despite being contacted at an early stage of production.

The director himself, who has said he”ll “be watching” the series, revealed on The Business podcast last month, that the show’s production team “asked if [he] would be interested in it... about four, five years ago”.

He recalled: “So I said, ‘Have you got the scripts yet?’ Because I know how hard the scripts were to write for the films, and I didn’t know the people writing their scripts. They said, ‘Oh no, we haven’t got the scripts yet, but as soon as we do, we’ll send you the scripts.’ So I was waiting for the scripts to arrive, and they never did.”

Patrick McKay and JD Payne are showrunning the series, with the former describing themselves as “admirers from afar” of Jackson’s work.

Speaking about the director’s success at adapting Tolkien for the screen, McKay told Empire: “Anyone approaching Lord of the Rings on screen would be wrong not to think about [that],” adding that the series “doesn’t try to compete with him”.

Now the series has arrived, many are taking umbrage with the fact that many of the the reviews of the show’s first episode are comparing it to Jackson’s trilogy.

Morfydd Clark in ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’
Morfydd Clark in ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ (Prime Video)

“Stop comparing it to Peter Jackson’s films!!” one fan wrote, adding: “Yes they’re great but Rings of Power is not them and that’s okay!!! let it be good without having to ‘follow the footsteps’ of PJ’s Middle Earth.”

‘You’ve already got ‘purists’ comparing it to Peter Jackson‘s trilogy like it’s the Bible,’ another frustrated fan wrote, while another added: “When people say Rings of Power don't look like Lord of the Rings, do they actually mean it doesn't look like Peter Jackson's movies? The movies are not and should not be the only visual reference for Tolkien's books.”

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available to stream on Prime Video now. Find The Independent’s verdict here.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in