Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power — Everything We Know So Far

The long-feared reemergence of a great evil will test unlikely Middle-earth heroes in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which will (at long last) arrive on Prime Video later this year.

From elves to dwarves to orcs and humans, the Prime Video series will bring together familiar characters, like the elven queen Galadriel, as well as several new figures created specifically for the show. (Check out the official teaser here.)

With Rings of Power deriving most of its source material from the Lord of the Rings' appendices, co-showrunner Patrick McKay noted that the upcoming series won't try to emulate Peter Jackson's big-screen trilogy. "Anyone approaching Lord Of The Rings on screen would be wrong not to think about how wonderfully right [Jackson] got so much of it," McKay told Empire. "But we're admirers from afar, that's it. The Rings Of Power doesn't try to compete with him."

Since the series takes place during the Second Age — thousands of years before the events of both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings — well-known heroes like Aragorn and Frodo likely won't appear, because they weren't yet born. Instead, Rings of Power will revolve around a different ensemble that includes a young Elrond (the eventual founder of the elven realm of Rivendell; previously portrayed by Hugo Weaving in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films) and the Dark Lord Sauron, who in the upcoming series is piecing together his plan to rule all of Middle-earth.

The fantasy epic, which has already been renewed for Season 2, will span a wide array of locations, from "the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor" as old and new characters etch out legacies that will last long after they are dead.

Details on the project remain agonizingly scarce, which is why we're snatching up all the intel we can ahead of its premiere this fall. Check below for everything we know about The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power so far.

The series will premiere the first two episodes on Thursday, Sept. 1 at 6 pm PT. New episodes will be released weekly, with the finale landing on Friday, Oct. 14.

The series will tackle Sauron's ascension to power as well as the forging of the Rings of Power, which the Dark Lord gifted to humans, elves and dwarves and secretly controlled with his master ring (aka the One Ring to Rule Them All).

Although many events featured take place over thousands of years, the show will compress them to one point in time in order to weave important characters into the story earlier than they canonically appear. According to Vanity Fair, a young, angry and brash Galadriel (played by Morfydd Clark) starts the series fighting for survival on a raft on the Sundering Seas with Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), a mortal character created for the show. She is hunting down the remaining parties involved in her brother's murder.

Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay mapped out five seasons for the show, which will have a clear beginning, middle and end. "The rights that Amazon bought were for a 50-hour show," Payne told Empire. "There are things in the first season that don't pay off until Season 5."

The show will also chronicle the rise and fall of Númenor, the island of men from which Aragorn is descended, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, an epic battle against Sauron (depicted in the prologue of Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring) which ended with Isildur cutting the One Ring from Sauron's hand and claiming it for himself.

Prime Video's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will feature:

Galadriel (played by Morfydd Clark), the elven ruler of Lothlórien and commander of the Northern Armies.

High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker), the elven ruler of Ñoldor who, in the books, founded the Last Alliance of Elves and Men alongside the Númenórean warrior Elendil.

Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), a key figure in the story per co-showrunner J.D. Payne. He is the elven smith who will eventually help create the Rings Of Power. "He's very mysterious," Payne said.

Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur), who hails from the dwarf realm of Khazad-dûm (which is seen in ruins in Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring).

Princess Disa (Sophia Nomvete), a dwarven princess and the first female dwarf from Tolkien's fantasy series portrayed on screen. As this new character, Nomvete is also the first Black woman to play a dwarf.

Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), a silvan elf who was also created for the series. He is the first non-white elf portrayed on screen.

Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), another new character, is a mortal fugitive running from his past.

Elrond (Robert Aramayo), a half-elf and "politically ambitious" young leader and architect who rises to prominence in the elven capital of Lindon.

Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), a healer and a single mom who runs her own apothecary and lives in Tirharad, a human village located south of Gondor and Mordor. Arondir is her forbidden love.

Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) is Bronwyn's son.

Isildur (Maxim Baldry), a young sailor from Númenor who will eventually cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand. Baldry told TVLine that Isildur makes decisions in the show that end up "pissing a lot of people off."

Elendil (Lloyd Owen), Isildur's father. Owen said that Isildur "might be my problem child."

Eärien (Ema Horvath), Isildur's sister, who is "stressed trying to keep the family together."

Elanor "Nori" Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh), a new character and one of the Hobbit ancestors — referred to as Harfoots.

Sadoc Burrows (Sir Lenny Henry), a Harfoot elder.

Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards), a Harfoot.

Largo Brandyfoot (Dylan Smith), a Harfoot.

Marigold Brandyfoot (Sara Zwangobani), a Harfoot.

Queen Regent Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), the current leader of Númenor.

Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle), Míriel's cousin.

Kemen (Leon Wadham), Pharazôn's son.

Lastly, Daniel Weyman will play... The Stranger. (No additional details have been given.)

Check out the official character posters here.

Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay will executive-produce alongside Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond and Sharon Tal Yguado, while Ron Ames and Christopher Newman will serve as producers.

Co-executive producer Wayne Che Yip will direct, along with J.A. Bayona and Charlotte Brändström.

Outlander's Bear McCreary will score the series, and Lord of the Rings composer Howard Shore will write the main theme.

Peter Jackson is not involved with this project.

Got burning questions about The Rings of Power, or want scoop? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line.