The Rings of Power series on Amazon is doubling down on its wokeness by recruiting an all-female directorial crew for season two, which is now filming in the United Kingdom.
The second season of Rings of Power will be directed by Charlotte Brändström, who returns after directing two episodes in season one, as well as Sanaa Hamri and Louise Hooper, who are new to the series. The new season’s release date has yet to be revealed.
Amazon paid an estimated $1 billion for the new series, hoping to create a must-see, blockbuster drama on the scale of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Despite Amazon’s big advertising campaign, the series, which acts as a sort of precursor to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, has failed to make much of a cultural impression.
Critics criticized the lack of intriguing characters, poorly designed action sequences, and lack of a compelling tale on social media, while assessments varied from unenthusiastic to outright hostile. The Hollywood awards machine has likewise thus far disregarded the program. Nonetheless, Amazon has guaranteed at least five seasons.
The first season celebrated wokeness by recruiting performers of many ethnicities to represent characters inspired by Tolkien’s Euro-centric depiction of Middle Earth. It also converted its primary character, the elf-queen Galadriel, into a Mary Sue with little substance.
Amazon has been secretive about the show’s audience ratings, offering only imprecise and perhaps misleading information. According to Nielsen data, the program had a substantial drop-off in watching time after the first week, with a loss of around 18 percent – an unsettling indicator for a new series.