‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ showrunner says the series is for everyone

It’s been speculated that Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power might pursue an adults-only vibe, à la Game of Thrones. But today Patrick McKay, screenwriter for the new series, shared with Vanity Fair that he intends to pen a family-friendly show.

McKay wants “to make a show for everyone, for kids who are 11, 12, and 13, even though sometimes they might have to pull the blanket up over their eyes if it’s a little too scary. We talked about the tone in Tolkien’s books. This is material that is sometimes scary — and sometimes very intense, sometimes quite political, sometimes quite sophisticated — but it’s also heartwarming and life-affirming and optimistic. It’s about friendship and it’s about brotherhood and underdogs overcoming great darkness.”

While the wholesome news won’t please everyone, parents can rest assured that the series, like the movies, will be safe to watch with upper-elementary and preteen kids.

Up until now, Amazon Prime has maintained a closed-door policy on all details regarding their series, but McKay and J. D. Payne, McKay’s high school friend and series co-writer, have started to open up. “We’ve worked on so many projects with so many awesome and exciting people that never got made or worked on things that did get made and we didn’t get credit,” McKay offers. “We were a little bit of a dark horse. And Amazon talked to absolutely everybody—whoever had any idea for Lord of the Rings.”

Payne gushes, “We were passionate about the material and had a take that matched Amazon’s appetites and ambition.”

“We felt like hobbits,” Payne adds. “We felt like two very small people in a very big world who had just been entrusted with something that meant so much to so many different people. Patrick and I will often look at each other in challenging moments of the show and say, ‘I’m glad you’re with me, Sam.’ ”

Now kids of today can enjoy Lord of the Rings just as we did, partly thanks to Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne. The writing duo may be newcomers, but this likely won’t be their last project to trend, if the series finds success.

We will find out when it airs on Amazon on September 2, 2022.