If your big fantasy IP can be enjoyed by middle-aged white men, there are chances that it has a toxic side of its fandom online which hates anything ‘woke’ or progressive. The same holds true for Star Wars and comic book movies, and it’s also true for the Lord of the Rings fandom.
Rings of Power had been met with aggressively negative ‘fans’ online who have started attacking the show for ‘wokeness’ ever since it was announced that Galadriel was the lead, but showrunner J.D. Payne is actually fine with the haters and is actually ‘happy’ that they’re writing about the show.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter Payne explains:
“… When we see that millions of people are watching this and responding so positively to it — that’s who we’re fighting for. And those who watch every episode and [negatively] write about it on social media and make YouTube videos, we’re happy to have you guys, too. It wouldn’t be a journey through Middle-earth without some trolls along the way.”
Admittedly, what fans of the show are worried about is that the negativity surrounding the series will push people away from checking out Rings of Power, and that could lead to the series’ cancellation before the story gets completed.
With Rings of Power though, it’s said that Amazon is committed to delivering five planned seasons for the show. It does help that a rumor suggests that Jeff Bezos is a Lord of the Rings fan, which means TROP is going to have a budget regardless of what the audience numbers are going to be.
Despite negative fans, there have also been some positive buzz around the show, and this would probably find its way soon to the audience that Rings of Power is looking to grow. Personally I love the series, and I think every character in it, new and familiar, is fantastic and really captures the vibe of the original Peter Jackson movies.
Catch Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
