‘The Rings Of Power’ Season 3 New Look: Charlie Vickers Goes Full Sauron Mode As He Forges The One Ring In Prime Series

Andy Serkis is starring in and directing “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” but before that spinoff/prequel feature film graces the big screen, fans of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s world will get to view the third season of Prime’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” the pricey streaming series that takes place during The Second Age of Middle-Earth.

In that new run of episodes, we’ll see actor Charlie Vickers finally in full Sauron-mode, after tiptoeing around his true form, being the Dark Lord and protege/heir to Morgoth. Sauron had been backstabbed by his army and followers, only to team up with Morfydd Clark‘s Galadriel and Charles Edwards‘ Celebrimbor to convince the latter to create the first batch of the titular Rings of Power for the elves.

READ MORE: July’s 11 Must-Watch TV Shows, From ‘Lucky’ To ‘Furious’ & ‘X-Men ’97’

Empire Magazine has shared two new looks at Vickers as Sauron in his full costume, as there is an expectation that Prime Video will be promoting Season 3 at San Diego Comic-Con. “The first day I walked onto that set, I cried,” Vickers told Empire about donning the full costume/armor of Sauron. “What an amazing privilege and honor to be able to tell that story. We were doing the [forging of the One] Ring across two weeks, because the sequence is so long,” says Vickers.

Sauron crafts the One Ring to wield it to bend the other ringbearers to his will; the rings in the possession of men end up leading to their corruption by his dark magic and transformation into the Nazgul, although we’re unsure if we’ll ultimately see the origin of the Witch King of Angmar, who leads the group Ring Wraiths and becomes sort of Sauron’s successor in The Third Age leading the forces of Mordor in big battle against Gondor in “The Return of the King.”

“This is the season,” co-showrunner Patrick McKay told Empire, “where Sauron makes the One Ring in the volcano…We have a full-on villain this season, in a way that was quite different before,” says McKay’s fellow co-showrunner J.D. Payne. Sauron’s true emergence “changes the tone of the show..This third season is darker, more dangerous. No one is safe.”

Support independent movie journalism to keep it alive. Sign up for The Playlist Newsletter. All the content you want and, oh, right, it’s free.

Prime subscribers won’t have to wait too much longer as Season 3 of “The Rings of Power” heads to the streaming service starting on November 11, 2026.