Amazon’s “Lord of the Rings” series has found its villain.
Joseph Mawle has been cast in the forthcoming fantasy series from writers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, according to Deadline. The “Game of Thrones” alum is set to play the series’ main villain opposite “Bandersnatch” star Will Poulter.
Few details about the series, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s bestselling series of novels, have been announced, but the show is expected to take place before the events of Tolkien’s “Fellowship of the Rings” series.
Payne and McKay, veterans of the “Star Trek” franchise will write the series, with “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” director J.A. Bayona attached to direct the first two episodes, which will film in New Zealand. The show set to be the most ambitious project Amazon Studios has taken on yet, reportedly estimated to cost the streamer as much as $1 billion.
Amazon declined to comment on the latest casting.
Along with Payne and McKay, executive producers include Bayona and his partner Belén Atienza, as well as Lindsey Weber (“10 Cloverfield Lane”), Bruce Richmond (“Game of Thrones”), Gene Kelly (“Boardwalk Empire”), Sharon Tal Yguado, Gennifer Hutchison (“Breaking Bad”), Jason Cahill (“The Sopranos”) and Justin Doble (“Stranger Things”).