ap photo Moderator Stephen Colbert, left, and Robert Aramayo participate in a panel for “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” on day two of Comic-Con International on Friday in San Diego.

Comic-Con audiences got a sneak peek at the new “Lord of the Rings” series “The Rings of Power” Friday in San Diego. Amazon Studios unveiled a new trailer for the show, set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings.” Stephen Colbert, a self-proclaimed Tolkien fan, was also on hand to moderate a panel teasing the series on the fan convention’s biggest stage, Hall H.

Under the leadership of showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” focuses on Tolkien’s Second Age of Middle-earth, when kingdoms are forming and falling and evil forces loom and threaten to cover the world in darkness.

“The Rings of Power” will take audiences to fantastical locations like the Elven realms of Lindon and Eregion, the Dwarven realm Khazad-dûm, the Southlands, the Northernmost Wastes, the Sundering Seas, and the island kingdom of Númenór and introduce them to a large ensemble, including Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker).

The eight-part series will debut on Prime Video on Sept. 2, with new episodes arriving weekly. It is said to be the most expensive ever made, with a reported budget of $465 million.