The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 features a creature famous for failing to pass Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring — and, for the first time ever, it speaks.
At San Diego Comic-Con 2026 today, Prime Video debuted a trailer for Season 3 and revealed three new characters: Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky) plays King Durin IV’s older brother, Thrain; Andrew Richardson (Guys & Dolls) plays Elendil’s younger son and Isildur’s brother, Anarion; and Adam Young (Don’t Breathe 2) plays Marnûkh, who is described as “a mysterious Orc who may not be what he seems.” They join the previously announced Jamie Campbell Bower as Celeborn, and Zubin Varla as Khamûl the Easterling.
But the headline addition here is Simon Pegg of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame as the voice of The Balrog — yes, The Balrog, Tolkien’s terrifying creature born of fire, darkness, and shadow who battles Gandalf on the bridge of Khazad-dûm. At SDCC, Prime Video debuted an in-room only featurette titled Bringing Season 3’s Creatures to Life, which showed highlights of several creatures that will be seen this season, including Fell-beasts, the war elephants known as Mûmakil, Orcs, and the return of the Balrog, who for the first time ever will speak.
The Balrog does not speak at any point in any of Tolkien’s texts, nor is there an indication in any of his texts that Balrogs generally are able to speak. So The Rings of Power really is doing something quite different here.
You might remember that in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2, the Balrog was awakened prematurely from its slumber beneath the Misty Mountains by the greedy Dwarves’ mining for mithril. King Durin III sacrifices himself in Khazad-dûm to stop the ancient monster after removing his corrupting ring.
In Season 3, Sauron learns the power to forge the One Ring from the Balrog itself. During the SDCC panel featurette, the showrunners described the Balrog as an “intelligent dangerous adversary,” adding: “We want to show a different side of him. We are crazy stupid or wild enough to think in this season he should have a scene with Sauron.”
The new teaser shows off the “darker tone” Season 3 is going for, as it depicts Sauron’s quest to forge the One Ring. As we know, Jamie Campbell Bower (Stranger Things) plays Galadriel’s long-lost husband, Celeborn, and Zubin Varla (Andor) plays Khamûl the Easterling, of Rhûn, who goes on to become the second-in-command of the Nazgûl and the only Ringwraith besides the Witch-king named explicitly in J.R.R. Tolkien’s core writings.
Season 3 features the Nazgnagôl, the earlier Second Age incarnation of the Nazgûl we know from the Third Age. This means we’ll get to see the origins of the Ringwraiths, who were men working for Sauron and lusting for power. It’s worth remembering that The Rings of Power is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, so much of what we see in the show is forgotten by the time Gandalf knocks on Bilbo Baggins’ door.
The first four episodes of Season 3 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will premiere on November 11, 2026. Episodes five and six will be available to stream on November 18, and the final two episodes of the season will be released on November 25.
Here’s the official blurb:
In Season 3, Middle-earth is at war. Five years have passed since the fall of Eregion. Sauron’s armies have marched across the whole of the world, conquering all in their path. Only a few isolated pockets stand between the Dark Lord and total victory — Khazad-dûm, where the Dwarves are now sealed deep within their mountain halls, and the elven realms of Lindon and Rivendell, which are protected by their Three Rings. But deep in the land of Mordor, in his newly completed tower of Barad-dûr, the Dark Lord toils day and night, obsessed with harnessing a power that will bring the last of his enemies to their knees: One Ring to rule them all… Now, all the free peoples of Middle-earth — Dwarves, Elves, Men, and Wizards alike — must find a way to come together, in a race against time to prevent Sauron from achieving his goal of utter domination of all life…
Amazon says The Rings of Power is one of the highest performing and most-viewed titles ever on Prime Video. Season 1 is the biggest TV series premiere in the history of Prime Video, and Season 2 is among the Top 5 most-watched returning seasons ever. The series has attracted over 185 million viewers worldwide. The Rings of Power is still on-track to run for five seasons, with the $1 billion show reportedly still under the protection of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’ “magical halo” despite its huge costs.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
