“According to The Hollywood Reporter, Patrick McKay (Escape) and J.D. Payne (Uprising) spoke about their steps to make the second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power reach higher level. They spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about how the second season of J.R.R. Tolkien’s (The Hobbit) beloved fantasy world will be bigger and better.
“Anytime you’re going to be doing something the second time, you have all the benefit of everything that you learned,” Payne said. “Having done it the first time, frankly, is a huge help. The second season, we know our actors a lot better. We know their voices. We know how they live in these characters. So I think we knew where the bull’s-eye was in terms of how to write to each of their strengths. Another part is you had to set up an entire world in season one. You have to introduce audiences to the Second Age. You have to meet all these different characters in a half dozen worlds. It’s a lot to onboard. Now we’re really able to just hit the ground running by virtue of the fact that this is the next chapter, the board is set, and the pieces are in motion. We can start with a bang. Sauron is making moves and he never slows down — neither does the show.”
McKay added, “Just as a viewer, there are many shows I love that in their first season that were still honing the tone and rhythm and the characters and their voices — even on The Sopranos, which is probably the best television drama of the last 25 years. That’s part of starting off a big, ambitious show. Part of the first season is trying to find your lane. And I think season two, as J.D. said, we really know where this show wants to live. And I think us making that claim to you two years ago was not to be boastful, but to say, ‘That’s the bar.’ That’s where it needs to be. We’re enormously proud of season one and success and the huge audience and all those things, but if we’re not leveling up every time, we’re not clearing our own bar.”
The new season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power airs on August 29.