How Amazon Should Make A Lord Of The Rings TV Show

8. Don't Overly Prequelise It

One of the few things we know about the show at this early stage is that it'll be set before the events of Fellowship of the Ring, and with that will surely be a temptation - and perhaps an inevitability - that the new series directly connects itself to the main story of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

It's easy to see how that would happen, and is why Amazon must ensure it doesn't. The show needs to stand on its own two feet and tell a distinct story, rather than simply serving to setup those events or relying heavily on a number of name-drops and *nudge nudge, wink wink* references and appearances of familiar characters.

Include some known characters if necessary, although ideally the onus would be on new ones, but don't have the point of their arcs and appearances being how they fit into the story to come, instead showing how they work in the current story they're in.