Following the major announcement this week that HBO Max is being rebranded as Max, new advertisements have rolled out for the service–and one of them seemingly pokes fun at Amazon Studios and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The advertisement in question-see it at The Hollywood Reporter–shows Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen sitting on the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones, with text below that states, “The one to watch when you want to rule them all.” The ad could be understood as a reference to Game of Thrones, as Daenerys certainly had ambitions to “rule them all” in the TV series. But it can also be taken as a dig at Amazon Studios and its own fantasy series, The Rings of Power. Fans of the Middle-earth series know that one of the franchise’s most iconic lines is “One Ring to rule them all.”
Or perhaps the new Max ad is trying to promote Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings at the same time. After all, all of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films are streaming on HBO Max/Max. The Hollywood Reporter speculates that WB Discovery might have rolled out this ad specifically to generate news stories and memes that, in the end, help elevate Max by putting it in front of more eyeballs.
A so-called battle between Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings was re-energized in 2022 when new TV shows in both franchises, House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power, aired at the same time. Curiously, the first episode of House of the Dragon was published on YouTube for free on the same day that The Rings of Power debuted, a move people took as an attempt to steal some of The Rings of Power’s thunder.
The two shows airing at the same time generated debate and discussion online about which fantasy series was best, but the creatives behind each show say there is no bad blood. Both shows succeeding can help lift the fantasy genre overall, according to George R.R. Martin.
HBO Max will officially become Max on May 23. For lots more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of everything you need to know about Max.
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