As revealed by Empire, a new troll character by the name of Damrod the Hill-troll is said to be inspired by Saul Goodman’s occasional private investigator. Showrunner Patrick McKay shares, “[He] was inspired in part by Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul… if you look at the way he moves and his casual sense of strength.”

Not much is known about Damrod yet, but his first image has him facing the “Father of Orcs” Adar (now played by Samuel Hazeldine):

Meet #TheRingsOfPower Season 2's new Hill-troll, Damrod.

“[He] was inspired in part by Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul,” showrunner Patrick McKay tells Empire.

READ MORE: https://t.co/A4PGjKggeS pic.twitter.com/TEMjyVJInD

— Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) July 1, 2024

Damrod is also described as an ‘eater of dragon bones’ and ‘ready to deal out serious damage with its significant stature and grouchy demeanor.’ With the first season of Rings of Power giving spotlight to the orcs in Adar’s army, it’s going to be interesting to see how more creatures come to the service of Sauron. Can we even expect these earlier trolls to be smarter than the ones we meet in Lord of the Rings?

Going back to Mike though, it’s funny that he should be the inspiration for a troll character. At this point, it was kind of expected. The show would make fun of Mike occasionally (like calling him ‘Uncle Fester’), but there was one scene in Better Call Saul when Jimmy literally calls Mike a ‘troll under the bridge’. It was only a matter of time.

Catch the second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power when it premieres on Amazon Prime Video on Aug. 29.

Now thanks to Empire, we get to meet Winslet’s Ronal along with Tonowari (Cliff Curtis), both leaders of the Metkayina clan, the people who dwell the shallows of Pandora’s oceans. Check out this photo:

We also get to see Ronal on the cover of the magazine:

Winslet describes her character:

“She is strong. A warrior. Even in the face of grave danger, and with an unborn baby on board, she still joins her people and fights for what she holds most dear. Her family and their home.”

While the characters still have the blue skin and ears similar to the Na’vi, they do have some significant differences in appearance. For one, it looks like their eyes are much larger, and their bodies are also covered in tattoos—whereas the Na’vi just had natural patterns on their bodies.

With Jake only assimilating to the culture of the Na’vi, it’s going to be interesting to see him and his family get exposed to a new type of culture. While I expect there to be some friction, between the two tribes, I’m sure they can always team up to battle the ultimate enemy—Capitalism.

Here’s the synopsis for Way of Water:

Jake Sully and Ney’tiri have formed a family and are doing everything to stay together. However, they must leave their home and explore the regions of Pandora. When an ancient threat resurfaces, Jake must fight a difficult war against the humans.

Avatar: The Way of Water comes to theaters on Dec. 16.

Talking to Empire (via @TheSWU), Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has explained that development of the series didn’t get really far, and future concepts would just be brought over to the next season of Mando. She says, “We’d never written any scripts or anything on that. Some of that will figure into future episodes, I’m sure, of the next iteration of Mandalorian.”

With the character of Din Djarin not having any specific allegiance with neither the Empire nor the New Republic, it would make sense for a series to focus on the characters who know they are on the side of the Rebellion.

With Mando said to be expecting a huge time jump for its next season, some think that they will finally be entering Sequel Era territory. It would be interesting to watch the early days of the New Republic, and maybe we can have cameos from Sequel characters like pilots Snap Wexley or Jess Pava. Would it be too hard to get Oscar Isaac to make a cameo as Poe?

For now, Disney+ is prepping for the release of The Book of Boba Fett on Dec. 29.