Elon Musk has heavily criticised Amazon‘s Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power following the release of its first two episodes.
READ MORE: The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power review: epic fantasy franchise returns to rule them all
The Tesla CEO recently took to Twitter to deliver his damming verdict, writing: “Tolkien is turning in his grave.”
In a follow-up tweet, he added: “Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.”
Set thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, the J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay co-created series is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s history of Middle-earth, charting the forging of the Rings of Power, the Rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the fall of the island kingdom of Númenor, and the last alliance between Elves and Men.
The character of Galadriel – now played by Morfydd Clark and previously portrayed in the films by Cate Blanchett – has been the focus of many complaints from fans, who claim that the once regal elf has now been turned into an action hero.
Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2022
Despite the complaints from Musk and Tolkien purists, the new series went on to achieve the highest-ever premiere viewing figures for an Amazon Prime Video show, with over 25million viewers streaming the opening episode in the first 24 hours.
At a reported production budget of $1billion (£866.6million), the series is the most expensive show ever made.
In NME‘s four-star review of the opening two episodes, we wrote: “Tolkien-trolls (not the fun, cave kind) have spilled a Mount Doom-sized pile of vitriol online, stirred up about a perceived intrusion by ‘woke’ culture on their sacred texts.
“But if that small minority stopped hating on the talented, diverse cast for five minutes, they might realise that The Rings Of Power’s fresh faces do some of the most interesting work on the show. As a start, this is an excellent one.”
Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power will run until October 14, with six more episodes left to air.
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