With The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 slated to premiere on the 2024 TV schedule in just one week, I’m starting to get a better picture of what to expect from the latest episodes. Charlie Vickers’ Sauron looks to be getting a huge boost this season as the main villain after my brain exploded at the reveal of his name during the Season 1 finale. However, I have some complex feelings about the news of a second actor playing Sauron this season.
I Have A Problem With Sauron Being Played By Two Actors This Season
The Rings Of Power Season 2 opening scene will involve Sauron, the Orcs and Adar being all together in a flashback set a thousand years before the events of the prequel series. However, rather than Charlie Vickers playing that version of the character, Slow Horse’s Jack Lowden will play portray him in that scene instead.
This is bothersome to me because I think it takes the power away from Vickers as the big bad at the start of Season 2. Sure, it’s been established that Sauron didn’t always have the same face, perhaps to make it scary for audiences that he could be anyone. However, I think it’s harder as an audience member to build interest, fear and even sympathy with a villain if he looks different in every other scene.
Also, Vickers is already set to have a completely different look this time around as an elf that I find barely recognizable. So, why go the extra layer by casting another actor for flashback scenes? It just makes things confusing.
Charlie Vickers Has Teased The Reason Why He’s Not The Only Sauron Actor
During a new Rings of Power featurette on YouTube, Charlie Vickers spoke about the inclusion of the new actor with great excitement. He also said this, which I believe points to the decision to have more than one actor play the Middle-earth villain:
One of his sort of primary powers is the ability to change forms.
With that in mind, I think the series will be trying to introduce the idea that Sauron does not look one way, he has the ability to evolve and blend in to get his evil plots checked off across many ages. If Sauron looked the same for too long, people might catch up to knowing who he is, so it’s rather interesting to see him take over new identities over the years.
But if you’re already going to go through the trouble of changing Vickers' appearance for Season 2 the way they did, why cast a whole new actor for part of it? Just make the original one look different again.
Either way, I can’t wait for what his co-star Cynthia Addai-Robinson coined as “Sexy Sauron” this season. I just find this decision odd. You can catch up on Rings Of Power and look forward to the new season’s premiere on August 29 with an Amazon Prime subscription.
