Ever since it was announced that Prime Video would be putting a more diverse cast together for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, certain "fans" have been voicing their displeasure. When the show finally aired, the backlash intensified, with individual actors being targeted by racist trolls online.
Now, Prime Video has released a statement on the matter, standing in solidarity with the show's cast.
In addition, the Hobbit actors from Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Sean Astin, took to Twitter to show their support.
It's unfortunate and more than a little embarrassing that something like this is even necessary in this day and age, but here we are.
The vocal minority aside, The Rings of Power has been a massive commercial and critical success for Prime Video so far. The third episode hits the streamer this Friday (or late tonight depending on your time zone), so be sure to keep an eye out for our recap.
Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power stars Morfydd Clark, Benjamin Walker, Charles Edwards, Charlie Vickers, Markella Kavenagh, Nazanin Boniadi, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Tyroe Muhafidin, Maxim Baldry, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Owain Arthur, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Leon Wadham, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.