Jeff Bezos Gets Roasted on Twitter, Compared to Evil Villain After Amazon Announces New 'Lord of the Rings' Show The new Prime Video series is set for a September 2022 release.
By Emily Rella Edited by Jessica Thomas
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Amazon's Prime Video has long been teasing an original series based off of the fan-favorite Lord of the Rings series.
Though not much was known about the series upon its announcement, fans are no longer speculating about what precisely the series could be about based on a title release and teaser video released on Wednesday.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which is set to premiere in early September, alludes to fans that the series will be a prequel of sorts, showcasing the story behind how the titular rings were forged together before the movie series began.
"The Rings of Power unites all the major stories of middle earth's Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men," showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay said in a company statement. "Until now, audiences have only seen on-screen the story of the One Ring – but before there was one, there were many… and we're excited to share the epic story of them all."
Related: Startup Strategies Entrepreneurs Can Learn From The Lord of the Rings
The company said that the story is set to take place thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and will feature characters that fans of the movie series are already familiar with as well as, of course, new ones.
The hype around the new Prime Video series is so real that Amazon founder and former CEO, Jeff Bezos, even tweeted about it, much to fans' pleasure.
"Coming this September 2nd," he wrote alongside a photo of himself leaning over on a sign displaying the show's title. "Can't wait for you to see it."
Coming this September 2nd. Can't wait for you to see it. @LOTRonPrime (1/2) pic.twitter.com/jd0wrPIJAp
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 19, 2022
He followed up with a post of the teaser video that showed the title reveal and a voiceover of the Ring Verse that was made famous in The Lord of the Rings.
Bezos' tweet received more than 24,500 likes and 1,800 retweets.
Many, however, took the opportunity to roast the billionaire in response to his support of the new show.
$AMZN
— Captain Jim James (@JimJame74888138) January 20, 2022
The new Lord of the Rings TV show will focus on the rise of Gollum, played by Jeff Bezos. pic.twitter.com/P7SBoSuXY4
Jeff Bezos and his ilk do not, I think, understand any of the actual messages or themes of The Lord of the Rings.
— Rebekah Valentine (@duckvalentine) January 20, 2022
Jeff Bezos actually stars in this as Sauron https://t.co/ab6E2J3eYG
— Aya (@AyaReina) January 20, 2022
Jeff Bezos is Sauron.
— Miles Bergstrom (@milesbergs) January 19, 2022
Is the new Lord of the Rings series about the lead up to the Lord of the Rings movies, or about how Jeff Bezos is trying to become Sauron?
— Kevin White (@KevWhitePE) January 20, 2022
i want to gatekeep lord of the rings from jeff bezos
— Marissa De La Rosa (@marissa_dlr) January 19, 2022
i see they decided against "lord of the rings: the rings of bezos"
— Judy Berman (@judyberman) January 19, 2022
It sucks that bezos likes lord of the rings bc come on man that's just for us, you get to have everything else.
— Drew Shannon (@montadrew) January 20, 2022
I wonder if Bezos realizes that he is the evil Tolkien wrote about in Lord of the Rings https://t.co/AnYW15Oc9m
— Matt Keliher (@MAKeliher) January 19, 2022
Jeff Bezos owner of Amazon standing with the logo from the new Lord of the Rings show that will be airing on Amazon Prime. It makes me mad because Bezos is basically Sauron when it comes to small independent bookstores. Bezos is the anti-Tolkien. Dark wizardry is afoot here. pic.twitter.com/OZO3wfPkCw
— Mark Magee (@markmageee) January 20, 2022
Twitter users jumped to compare Bezos to the series' villain, Sauron, the creator of the infamous "one ring to rule them all," who sought to conquer and rule all of middle earth — something many were drawing parallels to with Bezos and his Amazon empire.
"Jeff Bezos is trying to become Sauron," one user joked.
"It makes me mad because Bezos is basically Sauron when it comes to small independent bookstores," another said.
Bezos has yet to respond to any comparisons between him and you know, the dark lord.
The Rings of Power will air weekly on Fridays beginning September 2, 2022.
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