[Galadriel55]

I suppose then it simply becomes a question of target audience. Sadly, the chances of Downers being a representative target group are next to nothing. However, there are more "shades" to Tolkien fans. The movie franchise has its own set of fans. Would Warner Bros rely on "movie canon" in any way? Considering the vast influence this franchise has on the collective image of certain concepts, undoubtedly there will be bleedthrough. But would WB purposefully stick by certain concepts or images introduced in the movies? Would they try to guess what the average movie fan would like to see, and preserve the movie continuity / recognizability? Would they attempt to preserve recognizability with the Amazon show?

It's a fine can of worms, trying to guess what goes on in the planning stages of the movie industry.