There has always been a shadow of doubt when it came to Amazon's Lord of the Rings series. Once the studio announced their billion dollar deal to create a multi-season prequel series based on Tolkien's legendarium, fans have been left wondering what it would be about? More importantly they were curious about who would be involved.
Following months of speculation, it seems that the streaming giant is now deep in development, hiring scribes JD Payne and Patrick McKay to collaborate on the adventure. The team, who is considered an up and coming talent in the entertainment industry, is not new to genre fare, developing scripts for Star Trek 4 and Dwayne Johnson's Jungle Cruise, both of which will be released in the next few years. Additionally, Payne and McKay are involved in the Monsterverse writers room, coming up with concepts to further the Godzilla/King Kong universe. Whether they will be showrunning is a question currently left unanswered, but as its first hired writers it is entirely possible.
Reportedly aiming to match the tone of the intial six films, the studio has also held conversations with director Peter Jackson, whose official capacity has yet to be revealed. The series, which is currently on track for a 2021 release, has been rumored to feature a young Aragorn as its protagonist.