Lord of the Rings' new series may have been expensive to produce, but it's certainly gotten people talking, including popular author Neil Gaiman. After being an absolute savage in his response to Elon Musk’s Tweet about the Lord of the Rings prequel Rings of Power, the author was blamed by a confused person for some problems they have with the LOTR prequel. The issue here is Gaiman is not behind the new Amazon series and never has been; this Twitter troll simply got his fantasy authors mixed up, and subsequently, fans were having a field day over it.
For some backstory, Rings of Power has been positively reviewed by critics and viewed by 25 million. However, there is a group bombing the LOTR show's reviews, criticizing the casting of people of color and women. This has caused an outcry on social media from both sides. While people continue to hate on the show, some of the original Lord of the Rings movies cast have spoken out in support of the new series' choices.
What started this pocket of mostly confusion and a bit of drama over the Amazon Prime Video series was the tweet from the billionaire and Tesla CEO that said “Tolkien is turning in his grave,” noting that every male character is a “coward,” “jerk” or “both” in the prequel. That triggered a response from the popular author.
Elon Musk doesn't come to me for advice on how to fail to buy Twitter, and I don't go to him for film, TV or literature criticism. https://t.co/WpyXhQlqIhSeptember 6, 2022
After this, Twitter users grew a little louder and, in some cases, more confused. From this came the tweet from Henrik Anderson blaming Gaiman for ruining Lord of the Rings.
Nor do you listen to the fans, respect the source material, or think rationally. Even if you ignore the OBVIOUS lore issues you are causing, this is still an abomination! almost seem like a parody of LotR! I was hoping all the hater were wrong - but YOU crushed my hope - not Elon
Being blamed for dream-crushing is a pretty serious claim, but this user is also blaming the wrong person. Neil Gaiman is the creator behind the Netflix show The Sandman, and while he may have seen some Rings Of Power episodes early, he didn’t have a say in how it was made. This was made abundantly clear by fans of Rings of Power, as well. In fact, another fan, Minerva Blex, responded on Twitter with an equally confused response:
I'm so confused. Did you work on LotR? Why is this person mad at you? Sorry, I'm new to Twitter lol
That poor Twitter user was so confused! Luckily, Gaiman was able to provide some clarity, with a healthy dose of humor.
Meanwhile, Cory Barlog, a video game designer best known for God of War, jokingly mocked the Twitter user by citing his own project as something he will never “forgive” Gaiman for.
DARNIT NEIL!!! I will never forgive you for what you did to God of War. Or that backyard wrestling game. but you were the bomb in Phantoms, yo!
Other fans of Gaiman tweeted back by mocking and joking about The Sandman creator not being involved in projects that he would never, in a 1,000 years, be involved in. For example, dorotheasvintage referenced a soap opera:
I was also super mad at Neil when he stopped writing for my favorite soap, Passions. The show folded after that! If only Elon had been around then...
Some are confused by the joke – one person asked if this was true to which the user who tweeted about Passions said “Sarcasm, love.” Others jokingly blamed Gaiman for the Game of Thrones ending, Supernatural, and mike m. blamed him for War and Peace, you know the book by Leo Tolstoy from the mid-1800s.
Also, War and peace. I mean I love the story but man did the book drag on a bit. Too much peace, not enough war. And the movie adaption? So much was cut out, how can a few hours be all it was given. Do better next time.
While fans are having fun with the topic, the trolling of Rings of Power has been a serious issue for Amazon. Among this fall’s TV shows, it has been highly viewed and scrutinized. Gaiman has been a big advocate for diverse casting and has stood up for Rings of Power on social media, along with many others, to fight off the trolls hating on it. He has also implemented diverse casting in his own shows, especially in his newest one The Sandman.
Rings of Power drops new episodes every Friday and can be watched with an Amazon Prime subscription. With all the support for the Rings of Power cast from many and Gaiman’s presence on Twitter battling trolls, the discourse surrounding the next few episodes of the prequel is bound to be interesting.
