The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay sat down with The Direct's Russ Milheim in an exclusive interview where they confirmed the plans still being intact for the Amazon Studios series to go for five seasons.
Season 2 of the hit show aired on October 3 earlier this year, but there hasn't been official word from Amazon giving the project a proper Season 3 renewal.
Despite that, it's expected (by both audiences and those behind the scenes) that Season 2 won't be the final outing. After all, Season 2 did reach over 55 million global viewers, so it's doing pretty well in ratings.
Showrunners Confirm Five-Season Plan, Are Prepping Season 3
"So Far So Good, The Plan Goes On."
- The Direct: "It was reported recently that there is supposedly a five-season plan for the show. Is that something you can comment on? Is that still what you guys hope for if everything plays out."
Patrick McKay: That was the job that we applied for over many, many months. It was conceiving of this as a multi-season epic with one through line, and it's the Second Age, and all of the stories that are contained within it and all the peoples within it. And so far so good. The plan goes on.
When asked about some potential Season 3 teases (such as the potential presence of The One Ring), the showrunners were tight-lipped, but McKay did confirm that they are "prepping another season of the show:"
McKay: We can say nothing other than to say that we are hard at work. We are prepping another season of the show, and we're very excited about it, but that's all we can say right now.
Rings of Power Showrunner Reveal Why Now Was the Time to Reveal Gandalf
"The Character Himself Has Gone on a Journey of Self-Discovery."
- The Direct: "Season 2 finally gave Gandalf his name. But, admittedly, a lot of fans have been confident in knowing that fact since the very first episode. So my question to you is, why was now the perfect time to finally tell audiences this is definitely who this is."
J.D. Payne: The character himself has gone on a journey of self-discovery, and he has learned what it means to be an Istar. [He] learns that his job is that he's eventually going to have to take on Sauron. He's learned to control his powers. He's found his staff. And he's also learned that it's more important to use, you know, to be true to friendship than to see power as an end in itself. And so as he's learned some of those core truths about what it is to be an Istar, it felt like giving him his name at that time, along with those truths, felt right.
The entire interview can be viewed here:
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is now streaming on Amazon Studios' Prime Video.
