The Independent announced that Amazon Prime’s new Lord of the Rings streaming series will be a prequel, set thousands of years before the events of the movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson.

As any Tolkien fan knows, that means the new show will be set in the First Age, and based on Professor Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. The Silmarillion was published posthumously, in 1977. The Locus Prize winning-book (Best Fantasy Novel of 1978) recounts the history and mythology of Middle-Earth, including the exploits of the ancestors of some of the heroes of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Now, Amazon has released a new synopsis for the forthcoming series, which has teased some details regarding what to expect:

“This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.”

“Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.”

The Lord of the Rings streaming series is expected to premiere on Amazon Prime later this year, and should — ratings permitting — last five seasons. The names of several of the cast have been released, but not the roles they play. Its cast will include Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who appeared in Chicago Med as Dr. Vicki Glass, Maxim Caldry, who guest starred on Doctor Who as Dr. John Polidori, Ian Blackburn, who was Henry in Behold the Ghost, and Morfydd Clark, a Swedish-Welsh actress with considerable Geek cred. Ms. Clark has appeared in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Dracula, His Dark Materials, and Saint Maud. A recent addition to the cast is Sir Lenny Henry, a veteran of Harry Potter and Dr. Who.

Lord of the Rings is being developed for television by writer/producers John Payne and Patrick McKay, both of whom worked on Flash Gordon. Spanish director J. A. Bayona, who directed Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and A Monster Calls, has directed the first two episodes of the show, and is likely to direct more. They have been filming in New Zealand.

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