Amazon brought The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power to Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con today to showcase the upcoming third season of the epic fantasy series.
Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay were joined by several of the show's cast, and the trailer shown to fans in the building has, as promised, just been officially released. In that, we see that Sauron's quest to forge the One Ring is fully underway.
With his goal to control all of Middle-earth threatening every one of its realms, the result is new, and sometimes uneasy, alliances, which will be formed to try and stop him. As you might expect, Gandalf is also front and centre, and The Rings of Power now looks much closer to what fans expected from the Prime Video series when it was first announced.
Several additions have been made to the show's cast, including Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky) as King Durin IV's older brother, Thrain, Andrew Richardson (Guys & Dolls) as Elendil's younger son and Isildur's brother, Anarion, Adam Young (Don’t Breathe 2) as Marnûkh, a mysterious Orc who may not be what he seems, and Simon Pegg (The Boys) as the voice of the Balrog.
A special in-room-only featurette titled "Bringing Season 3's Creatures to Life" showed highlights of several creatures that will be seen this season, including Fell-beasts, the war elephants known as Mûmakil, Orcs, and the return of the fiery Balrog, who, as noted, speaks for the first time. Hopefully, it will be released in the coming weeks.
It's also been confirmed that the first four episodes of Season 3 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will premiere on November 11, 2026. Episodes 5 and 6 will be available to stream on November 18, and the final two episodes of the season will be released on November 25.
In Season 3, Middle-earth is at war. Five years have passed since the fall of Eregion. Sauron’s armies have marched across the whole of the world, conquering all in their path. Only a few isolated pockets stand between the Dark Lord and total victory – Khazad-dûm, where the Dwarves are now sealed deep within their mountain halls, and the elven realms of Lindon and Rivendell, which are protected by their Three Rings.
But deep in the land of Mordor, in his newly completed tower of Barad-dûr, the Dark Lord toils day and night, obsessed with harnessing a power that will bring the last of his enemies to their knees: One Ring to rule them all. Now, the free peoples of Middle-earth – Dwarves, Elves, Men, and Wizards alike – must find a way to come together, in a race against time to prevent Sauron from achieving his goal of utter domination of all life
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is produced by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay. They are joined by executive producers Lindsey Weber, Justin Doble, Kate Hazell, and executive producer-director Charlotte Brändström. Matthew Penry-Davey is producer, and Ally O’Leary, Tim Keene, and Andrew Lee are co-producers.
Check out the first trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 below.