The saga of the "Lord of the Rings" is picking up nearly 20 years later after Peter Jackson's movie series concluded, with a prequel series set thousands of years before both the "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" films.

The trailer for Prime Video's anticipated prequel series, "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," was released Thursday and is a long-awaited return to Middle Earth.

The prequel is pulled from appendices found in author J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings" series, which inform the books' richly drawn world populated by elves, Orcs, sorcerers and, yes, humans too.

For fans of "The Lord of the Rings," the trailer may feel thrillingly familiar as it winds through the realms of Middle Earth — and showcases old characters in a new light.

The trailer includes younger versions of characters from the previous movies, elves Galadriel (Morfydd Clark, played by Cate Blanchett in the movies) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo, originally played by Hugo Weaving).

The elves disagree on whether a previous enemy — likely, referring to Sauron — is still a threat.

“You have not seen what I have seen,” Galadriel warns just before the trailer shows death and destruction.

The rest of the trailer is essentially dramatic eye candy showing off the different realms belonging to the elves, the dwarves, and Harfoots, a species of hobbit.

The visuals reflect what producer Lindsey Weber previously said in an interview with Vanity Fair: “It felt only natural to us that an adaptation of Tolkien’s work would reflect what the world actually looks like.”

Fans are already Tweeting about how good they think the realms look.


But trouble is on the horizon, disrupting the tranquil scenes. “Darkness will march over the face of the earth,” one character says in the trailer. “It will be the end not just of our people, but all peoples.”

But we'll have to wait until the series releases on September 2, 2022 to find out exactly what the danger entails.

Joining Clark and Aramayo on screen are Maxim Baldry, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi and Ismael Cruz Córdova, among others.

The series cost Amazon $465 million for Season One, according to Variety