Way back in 2017, when there was no such thing as a COVID-19 pandemic even in the imagination, Amazon announced a bold move in developing a series (sort of) based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” for Prime Video. It would take place thousands of years before the events in “LOTR” and even its prequel “The Hobbit,” tackling events covered by the companion volume “Silmarillion.” A production posse and cast were formed, plus the shooting location of New Zealand confirmed, like with the Peter Jackson films. Then the pandemic struck. It seemed as if the series might not see the light of day.

But Amazon Studios can be just as doggedly determined as Frodo and Sam climbing up Mount Doom, as USA Today has it that a streaming release date for their “Lord of the Rings” series has finally been revealed. Fans of Tolkien’s books or the New Line Cinema adaptations directed by Peter Jackson can mark their calendars next year, now that Amazon has earmarked September 2, 2022 as the day their long-delayed show will premiere. And to sweeten their promise, they even threw in a promotional image from the first episode, showing a setting and character.

As seen in the image above, a figure in white stands on an elevated landscape overlooking a walled city and castle in the distance, and what appears to be a giant glowing tree further in the background. The producer gave no names on the location, or the character. But given the planned setting of the Second Age of the world, there is the possibility that the place is a city in the island kingdom of Numenor, where the ancestors of the Men of Gondor on Middle-earth would hail from. We will have to wait for a trailer to confirm this.

The official blurb for the Amazon “Lord of the Rings” series is that it follows the adventures of “characters both old and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.” It is known that some characters in “LOTR” like the Elves are extremely long-lived, but audiences will have to rely on show-runners Patrick McKay and JD Payne, plus an ensemble cast including Morfydd Clark, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charles Edwards and more, to not disappoint us in this return of one of the most iconic fantasy franchises ever created. Remember, the show premieres September 2 next year on Amazon Prime Video.

Image from The Verge