While The Rings of Power is now forced to compete with one of the biggest streaming shows in the history of the medium, the L<em>ord of the Rings</em> spinoff has a massive advantage over its competitor. The success of Game of Thrones season 1 opened the floodgates for small-screen fantasy shows as every streaming service, cable network, and even traditional TV network realized that the genre could produce massive mainstream hits.

Soon, Starz had Outlander, AMC had Interview with the Vampire, Netflix had Castlevania and The Witcher franchise, and Prime Video’s Critical Role shows The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein were vying for viewers with the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon. However, while all these R-rated, mature fantasy shows were big, it was Prime Video’s markedly more family-friendly, incredibly expensive series that expanded the possibilities for fantasy streaming shows.

Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings prequel series, The Rings of Power, was the single most expensive TV series ever made when the show was first announced, and its incredibly ambitious plans only grew in scope with its second season. Now, HBO’s Harry Potter reboot series is going head-to-head with The Rings of Power, with the first outing of the highly hyped HBO show arriving in December 2026 while The Rings of Power season 3 arrives in November of the same year.

Harry Potter Is Renewing Its Rivalry With The Lord Of The Rings This Winter

Credit: HBO via MovieStillsDB

While the sheer amount of hype surrounding HBO’s Harry Potter show might make it seem like the newer series is guaranteed to win this streaming battle royale, all hope is not lost for Prime Video’s J.R.R Tolkien adaptation. After all, The Rings of Power boasts a mostly original plot without any existing literary narrative serving as its direct inspiration. This gives the returning series a major advantage over HBO’s show. Not only has the Harry Potter franchise’s plot already been seen onscreen before, but the original movies were already incredibly popular.

The Rings of Power tells a new original story that viewers aren’t already familiar with, whereas HBO’s Harry Potter show will start with an eight-episode retelling of the original novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. While all the Harry Potter books are fairly well remembered, the first novel in the series is still its most famous, its most parodied, and, as a result, its most overly familiar plot.

Even casual fans of the Harry Potter franchise are likely to recall all the major story beats of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which spends a lot of its story dwelling on Harry’s pre-Hogwarts life and introducing the magic of the franchise’s wizarding world. Not only will this first season feature plenty of tiresome exposition, but its overly familiar origin story will also be one that anyone familiar with the Harry Potter franchise already knows off by heart.

The Rings Of Power Has A Major Advantage Over HBO’s Harry Potter

Credit: MovieStills

From the upcoming Dungeons and Dragons streaming shows to Alex Garland’s Elden Ring movie for A24, most major forthcoming fantasy projects strive to offer new, fresh, original spins on familiar franchises. In contrast, as HBO and Prime Video get ready to reignite the Harry Potter vs Lord of the Rings franchise rivalry this winter, the newer of the two series seems to have forgotten this vital element.

While HBO’s Harry Potter show might have novelty on its side since the series is only starting in December 2026, this is effectively undone by its decision to retell the most famous story in its source franchise. In contrast, since Prime Video’s Lords of the Rings prequel show <b>The Rings of Power </b> has an original story, it has something new to offer viewers when it returns later this year.