Popverse's top stories of the day

• How a second Donald Trump U.S. Presidency might impact the movie, tv, and comics industries
• 40 years after its debut, Dragon Ball is a pop culture force like few others
• Sisterhood of Dune ending explained: Understanding the book that Dune: Prophecy was based on

In the highly-anticipated upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 on Prime Video, viewers will be seeing a new side of Adar. An original character to the series, which primarily adapts the appendices of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Adar has been recast for the show’s second season. Played by Joseph Mawle in season 1, Adar will be played by Sam Hazeldine in The Rings of Power season 2.

Hazeldine made his debut onstage in Hall H during The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 on Thursday, July 26. It was noted that Adar is not an “evil” character, but rather, he is motivated by a desire to protect his children.

Adar, also called “Lord-father,” is assumed to be one of the Moriondor. These were the first elves to be corrupted by Morgoth, making them the forerunners of later generations of orcs and thus more similar in appearance to elves than their descents.

So it’s fitting that Hazeldine’s debut was given fitting orc-based fanfare. After a faux interruption of the panel that featured armies of orcs appearing on the Hall H screens, Hazeldine took to the stage.

And it isn’t just at Comic-Con that Adar will be making a big splash. According to the panel, Adar will appear onscreen alongside Sauron (Charlie Vickers) in the very first episode of Rings of Power season 2. Speaking about the scene, Vickers said, “I think a lot of it happens beneath the surface. They have a shared history.”

Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you from a Lord of the Rings reading guide, a Lord of the Rings watch guide, details on the upcoming animated film Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, a full the Lord of the Rings reunion panel you can watch, how the OG Hobbit actors stay in touch every day on a groupchat, and the true message of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to Gimli himself - John Rhys-Davies.