The Rings of Power season 2 isn't out yet, but thoughts are already turning to the hit Amazon high fantasy show's next chapter.
Indeed, the wildly successful Prime Video series' next entry isn't set to be released until Thursday, August 29, but with rumors circulating that Amazon has all-but-confirmed The Rings of Power season 3 is on the way, it seems that all parties are forging ahead with plans to return to Middle-earth.
So, when I sat down with showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay ahead of The Rings of Power's second season, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try and tease an answer out of them. And, when I "try", I absolutely mean it, because neither Payne or McKay was willing to give too much away.
Asked if they could comment on whether season 3 was definitely happening, or if they'd already outlined the story beats they wanted to hit next time around, McKay, with just a smidge of mischievous intent, simply said: "We're working on it [and] that's all we can say."
Not exactly the rousing confirmation I or anyone else was looking for, admittedly, but it was more than we've had so far! And, sure, "working on it" can be interpreted many ways – it could mean season 3 has only been storyboarded, or that the scripts are in the process of being written, or set designs are being, erm, designed, or... well, any number of things might have been prepared. With McKay and Payne previously stating they've got a five-season plan for their Lord of the Rings prequel series, it seems inevitable that some pre-production work would've taken place.
The Rings of Power is Prime Video's biggest 'TV Original' to date, too, with only Amazon's adaptation of Bethesda's Fallout videogame series coming close to matching The Lord of the Rings' live-action TV show staggering viewing figures. Unless season 2 suffers a catastrophic downturn in popularity, I suspect it'll perform as well as, if not better, than The Rings of Power's first season did. Doing so would surely result in one of the best Prime Video shows being renewed again.
I'll be bringing you plenty more in the way of season 2 exclusives in the lead-up to launch from Payne, McKay, and the show's cast, so make sure you stay tuned to TechRadar between now and release day.
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As TechRadar's senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You'll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.
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