Amazon’s sprawling fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power just added a couple of new cast members to its third season. Stranger Things actor Jamie Campbell Bower has signed on as a series regular, while Ray Donovan star Eddie Marsan is set for a recurring role.
With production still in early stages, details remain scarce. Bower is best known for his nightmarish portrayal of Vecna in Stranger Things, and sources say he’ll be playing the season’s most significant new character, described in casting breakdowns as a “handsome high-born knight” under the codename Arlen.
There’s also a strong possibility he could serve as a new romantic interest for Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), who ended Season 2 grappling with the devastating revelation that Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), was actually Sauron in disguise.
While Bower hasn’t explicitly confirmed details about his Rings of Power role, he did hint at a major shift from his Stranger Things persona. Speaking at a fan convention, he recalled a conversation with his therapist about what was next for him post-Vecna.
“Whatever the role may be exactly, it is expected to be a major departure from the monstrous Vecna Bower plays on Stranger Things.”
As for Marsan, his role remains a mystery for now, but as a veteran of film and television, Marsan has a knack for complex, layered performances, making him a natural fit for Middle-earth’s ever-expanding world of epic storytelling.
The synopsis for Season 3 reads: “Jumping forward several years from the events of season 2, season 3 takes place at the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron, as the Dark Lord seeks to craft the One Ring that will give him the edge he needs to win the war and conquer all Middle-earth at last.”
The third season is now in pre-production at its new home base, Shepperton Studios just outside London, and it will start shooting this spring.
The series takes place “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.”
In Season 2, “Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will.
“Building on Season 1’s epic scope and ambition, Season 2 of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity.
“Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.”
The series is being lead by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Charlotte Brändström, who was a co-executive producer and directed multiple episodes in Seasons 1 and 2, will be an executive producer and director for the third season. Sanaa Hamri will also return to direct, with veteran director Stefan Schwartz joining the series as well.
Source: Deadline
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