The Wheel Of Time Trailer: The Epic Fantasy Novels Are Now An Amazon Series

Anticipation for "The Wheel of Time" fantasy series has officially reached a fever pitch. The Amazon show will be the first official adaptation of the popular Hugo Award-nominated novels, the first 12 of which were written by author James Oliver Rigney Jr. (under his pen name of Robert Jordan) before his untimely death in 2007. With 15 total novels — fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson stepped in for the final book, which was then broken up into three separate titles — there's certainly no shortage of material for the streamer to take from the page and transform into live-action for as many seasons as they could possibly want.

Our first look at the series did much to assuage any fears of a less-than-faithful take on the epic fantasy novels and now we have a full-fledged trailer to pour over as well. Check it out below.

Based on that footage, it's no wonder (or surprise) that Amazon is pulling out all the stops for "The Wheel of Time." The streamer is very clearly investing a lot of time, money, and faith in this series to help fill the yawning chasm that "Game of Thrones" left in the wake of its hasty conclusion. Possibly the most wide-ranging and influential achievement of the HBO series could be the fact that it proved there remains a hungry audience for all manner of fantasy that the genre can provide — not just edgy, revisionist, post-modernist takes on the material. Notably, Amazon is also gearing up to unleash its "Lord of the Rings" series on an excited fanbase, while HBO is attempting to keep the "Game of Thrones" brand strong with multiple spin-offs and prequels in various stages of development. Netflix, meanwhile, is doubling down on a variety of "He-Man" projects as it attempts to keep up with this sudden fantasy arms race. The high fantasy of "The Wheel of Time" certainly is in keeping with this, taking advantage of a deep well of world-building and established lore that provides plenty of storytelling opportunity for the creative talent backing the show.

Speaking of which, that bench of creative talent is led by showrunner Rafe Judkins, who has previously worked on "My Own Worst Enemy," "Chuck," and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Uta Briesewitz ("Jane the Virgin," "Orange Is the New Black," "Stranger Things") will direct the first two episodes of the show's inaugural season. The cast features the always-fabulous Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, who will be stepping forward into the spotlight as the show's main protagonist as opposed to Rand Al'Thor, the "Chosen One" of the books. He will be portrayed by Josha Stradowski, alongside Madeleine Madden as Egwene al'Vere, Álvaro Morte as Logain, Marcus Rutherford as Perrin Aybara, Barney Harris as Mat Cauthon, and Zoë Robins as Nynaeve.

"The Wheel of Time" will premiere exclusively on Amazon on November 19, 2021.