Morfydd Clark (Galadriel), and Charlie Vickers (Halbrand) in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.'

(L to R) Morfydd Clark (Galadriel), and Charlie Vickers (Halbrand) in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.' Credit: Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

Though it has an awful lot of hope riding on (and an awful lot of money invested in) its gigantic J.R.R. Tolkien TV adaptation ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’, Prime Video is taking a slowly, surely approach to releasing information about the series.

The latest dispatch comes via series of covers and articles for Empire magazine in the UK, which put the spotlight on several characters, including Morfydd Clark’s take on ethereal elf Galadriel (who, in fairness, has already been shown quite prominently).

Then there’s Dwarf Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and Princess Disa (Sophia Nomvete), the rulers of Khazad-dûm.

Finally, the Harfoots – the precursors to the Hobbits, who are primed to play a key role in the new story. The third new cover features Megan Richards’ Poppy Proudfellow, Markella Kavenagh’s Elanor ‘Nori’ Brandyfoot, and Lenny Henry’s Sadoc Burrows.

Inside the latest issue of the magazine is a piece on Charles Edwards’ Celebrimbor, an Elven smith who was manipulated into helping create the Rings Of Power. You can read more about him here.

Charlie Vickers (Halbrand) in Prime Video's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.'

Charlie Vickers (Halbrand) in Prime Video's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.' Photo: Ben Rothstein/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

And those, of course are just an assortment from an ensemble that redefines the world sprawling, which includes Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Maxim Baldry, Nazanin Boniadi, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Trystan Gravelle, Ema Horvath, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Lloyd Owen, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.

This new adaptation of Tolkien’s sprawling fantasy novels comes courtesy of J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, who have writing credits on movies including ‘Star Trek Beyond’. ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s J.A. Bayona is involved as an executive producer and director along with fellow director Charlotte Brändström.

‘The Rings of Power’, according to the showrunners, unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. “Until now, audiences have only seen onscreen the story of the One Ring — but before there was one, there were many… and we’re excited to share the epic story of them all.”

The “Second Age” refers to a long period in the history of Middle Earth that ends with the defeat of Sauron and precedes Tolkien’s book and Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie trilogy, which take place during the Third Age. The titular Rings of Power were forged in this era and 19 of them were given to elves, dwarves, and humans to incentivize them to support Sauron’s reign. The One Ring, which figures so heavily into the plot of the original trilogy is the most powerful of the 20 (it’s what Frodo and the gang travelled all that way to destroy, after all). The official description mentions an evil even greater than Sauron, which probably points Morgoth, a god-like creature who tried to rule Middle-earth – and that had Sauron serving as his general.

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ is set to premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video beginning Friday, September 2nd, with new episodes dropping each week.

Nazanin Boniadi (Bronwyn) in Prime Video's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.'

Nazanin Boniadi (Bronwyn) in Prime Video's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.' Photo: Ben Rothstein/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.