Is it necessary to have watch The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power?

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The events of The Rings of Power take place before The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Here we will try to explain if it is necessary to have seen Peter Jackson's films before

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, from Prime Video, is just a few weeks away from release, and fans of the novels and the film series are excited.

For those who don't know, The Rings of Power is based on the immensely popular literary world of Middle-earth, created by J.R.R. Tolkien, the father of fantasy literature. The books in this world include The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and other stories that have been collected over the years. Fantasy literature owes much to Tolkien's work, as much of what came after in the world of fantasy was influenced by his work.

Between 2001 and 2003, director Peter Jackson stunned the world by adapting The Lord of the Rings literary trilogy into a film trilogy. The films were acclaimed by both critics and the public in all cinematographic aspects (script, direction, acting, CGI...). The 3 tapes are considered among the best films in history. The success of the films made Tolkien's work popular to levels never seen before. Years later, Jackson adapted the book The Hobbit into a film trilogy, with not-so-good results compared to his predecessors.

Middle-earth is one of the densest fictional worlds ever created. The Rings of Power series will take place in what is known as the Second Age of the Sun, which lasted thousands of years. There's a lot for the Prime Video series to explore, and while this might be exciting for fans, newcomers might find it overwhelming, wondering if they need to do some research before watching Rings of Power.

In the wake of The Hobbit films, Warner Bros. (the studio behind both film trilogies) and those who control Tolkien's estate had a legal showdown. In the end, the television rights to the original work began to be negotiated by the estate, and finally ended up in the hands of Amazon Prime Video. 

As the production evolved, Prime Video tried to align or unify its series with the blockbuster films, even going so far as to talk to Peter Jackson about returning to direct the series. Eventually, they partnered with Warner Bros. New Line Cinema, giving them potential access to material from the films.

Do I have to watch all the Lord of the Rings movies before watching The Rings of Power?

The short answer is no. The Rings of Power is set thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, so you don't have to watch the movies to understand what's going on. Amazon has prepared the series so that people who do not know anything about Tolkien and his work if they exist, can enjoy The Rings of Power. Obviously, the company knows that many fans of the movies and books are waiting for the series, so it may introduce winks to those products to the delight of fans.

Of course, due to the success of the movies, it's clear that they took a lot of inspiration from the Peter Jackson movies, that's one of the reasons for the partnership with Warner Bros. New Line Cinema. In the latest Rings of Power trailer, a creature is shown that is exactly the same as the one shown in the Jackson movies.

In conclusion, it is not necessary to have seen the movies, much less read the books. Even so, we cannot finish the article without recommending that you read Tolkien's work, so that you can enjoy one of the greatest literary worlds ever created. And we also recommend that you see one of the greatest epics in the history of cinema, the film trilogy of The Lord of the Rings, and its sequel, the Hobbit trilogy.