Though it's become the subject of toxic backlash, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power actor Ismael Cruz Córdova is celebrating the franchise's recent push for diversity. Córdova stars in the Prime Video series as Arondir, a Silvan Elf tasked with watching over the Men descended from allies of Morgoth in the Southlands of Middle-earth. Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's Beren & Lúthien and Aragorn & Arwen stories, Arondir is a completely new character created for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but tells a similar tale of an Elf engaging in forbidden love with a human in the form of Nazanin Boniadi's healer Bronwyn.The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set thousands of years before the events of Tolkien's beloved novels, instead adapting material from The Silmarillion and chronicling Middle-earth's Second Age, a time of relative peace that threatens to crumble with the impending rise of the Dark Lord Sauron. Developed by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, the series is expected to run at least five seasons, with Amazon having acquired the rights to Tolkien's work in a major $250 million purchase with a five-season commitment expected to cost upwards of $1 billion. After five years of development, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premiered this past week to largely positive reviews from critics, and one star is sharing his gratitude for those receptive of the show.A few days after the show's premiere, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power actor Ismael Cruz Córdova took to Twitter to celebrate the franchise's return. Córdova, who stars as Arondir in the series, celebrated the Lord of the Rings project's diversity and shared a moving story behind one of his character's billboards.
As Córdova indicates, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's diversity in its casting has been met with a wave of racist backlash from toxic audiences. The Arondir actor opened up about the racist backlash earlier this week, saying that rather than let it disappoint him, it empowered him to fight to land the role and bring that diversity to a franchise that has rarely seen it. Such racist backlash in turn led to Amazon having to disable The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power user reviews in order to prevent toxic members bombing the show with negative reviews.
In spite of some racist backlash, Córdova's passionate post about The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's diversity continues to spotlight his devotion to rising above the toxicity and embracing the positive effects his work on the show brings. While the show debuted to major viewership numbers, bringing in a reported 25 million viewers within its first 24 hours, and is gearing up to begin filming season 2 soon, it will be interesting to see if the backlash effects the show's ongoing ratings. Only time will tell as new episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power debut Fridays on Prime Video.
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Source: Ismael Cruz Córdova/Twitter