Nomadic hobbits, bearded female dwarves and enslaved elves -- Amazon finally lifted the lid on its highly anticipated "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" TV series at Comic-Con on Friday.
The enormously ambitious small-screen saga set in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's books has been in the works since Amazon Prime bought the rights for $250 million almost five years ago.
Fans, many of whom camped in line overnight at the world's most famous pop culture gathering, were treated to a first look at footage, plus interviews with the creators and a 21-strong cast of hobbits, dwarves and elves in a packed presentation hosted by comedian and Tolkien-enthusiast Stephen Colbert.
"As fans and as viewers and lovers of Middle Earth and Tolkien, we didn't want to do a side thing, or a spin off, or the origin story of something else," said co-creator Patrick McKay.
"We wanted to find a huge Tolkienian mega epic. And Amazon were, wonderfully, crazy enough to say 'yes, let's do that.'"
Amazon is reportedly spending more than $1 billion to make five seasons -- each running for 10 hours -- the first of which launches on its streaming platform September 2, and which "reintroduces" Tolkien's world of Middle Earth, said McKay.
Younger versions of elves Galadriel and Elrond -- familiar characters to fans of Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning "Lord of the Rings" trilogy -- will be played by Morfydd Clark and Robert Aramayo.
But with the new TV show set 4,000 years before Jackson's trilogy, in a fictional "Second Age" -- a historical period sketched out in less detail by Tolkien's writings -- the creators had license to create many new characters.
"The field was wide open," said co-creator J.D. Payne.
"Amazon bought the rights to basically 10,000 years of Middle Earth history and said, 'Alright guys, let's take all comers and see what you have to say.'
"We felt that the Second Age is freaking awesome. It's Tolkien's amazing, untold story, that is so iconic with the forging of the Rings of Power."
