3 Things Fans Hope 'The Rings of Power' Will Deliver
Amazon's take on the Tolkien universe has drawn a lot of controversy, but there is still some fan expectations the show can live up to.
A lot of 'The Lord of the Rings ' fans are still cautious about the upcoming TV show 'The Rings of Power ' based on the universe created by John R.R.Tolkien despite the massive promotion campaign and impressive budgets.
But if the show manages to live up to certain standards and expectations, then fans are ready to give it a chance. Here is a look at what people hope 'The Rings of Power' will deliver.
Tolkien Themes
For a lot of Tolkien fans, the universe of Middle-earth was about how the author pondered the eternal topics: life and death, mortality and immortality, good versus bad and even, as one of the fans put it, "preservation of nature and evils of industrialization". In 'The Rings of Power', people expect creators to respect the Tolkien themes and not sacrifice them for the sake of "modernizing" the story or making it more acute in terms of the real-world social justice problems or even racial tensions.
"For it to be lore friendly and not an obvious attempt to rewrite someone's life's work for the sake of "modernity". Go make a "modern fantasy" show of their own making instead of warping something else to fit their personal views which won't matter in a few years once this culture and identity war is seen for the stupid waste it is." – /MustardWendigo
Those hoping for the Tolkien themes to be preserved in 'The Rings of Power' highlight that they are perfectly fine with the show's diverse casting as long as diversity itself does not become the centrepoint of the series.
OG Characters
It looks like people want to see 'The Rings of Power' focusing on the characters already introduced by Tolkien, and not just revolve around the majority of new and original ones.
Because if the latter will be the case, then creators should have just made their "own fantasy IP and do whatever [they] want with it", according to one fan. 'The Rings of Power' has to stick with the lore, or else people don't see the point of basing the show on the Tolkien universe.
Not 'Game of Thrones ', Please
The trailer, albeit magestic and CGI-stuffed, appeared to channel 'Game of Thrones' vibes for many fans – and it looks like the LOTR fans are clearly not into that. Many people are urging 'The Rings of Power' creators to stay as far from 'Game of Thrones' as possible, because the two worlds are different and trying to take too much inspiration from George R.R. Martin's universe would be too much.
"If the show gets really sexual or includes a lot of grotesque nudity, it means this isn't Tolkien's world. That would really put me off," a fan posted on Reddit.
The concern that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wants to make 'The Rings of Power' nothing short of 'Game of Thrones' for Prime Video is still there – and it seems that the show would draw even more criticism should the fan fears turn out to be reasonable.