Middle-earth may be a realm of utter fantasy, but that hasn’t stopped some fans from having strong feelings about who belongs in that world.

During Entertainment Weekly‘s Brave Warriors panel at Comic-Con 2024, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power star Ismael Cruz Cordova spoke frankly about the racism and ignorance he faced after being cast as the elven everyman Arondir in the Prime Video series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fiction.

“My character is not in the lore of the Lord of the Rings, and that was an issue for some people,” Cordova said. Noting that it was “a big controversy of me being the first elf that wasn’t white,” he added, “I loved the nerve that I pinched. I really do. I was so excited to create something new. A lot of people speaking on behalf of Tolkien, I don’t know if they understand the spirit of Tolkien. His work speaks of the times.”

Ismael Cruz Cordova on ‘The Rings Of Power’.Prime Studios

Reflecting on the nature of fantasy storytelling and what it can reveal, Cordova said, “We work with these deep existential questions, and those questions change with the times. We can’t retell something like Lord of the Rings today, 2024, without introducing different existential questions, and that comes in the form of character.”

Audiences were introduced to Arondir on the first season of Rings of Power, as an elf dedicated to protecting his people and fighting to keep evil from Middle-earth. Cordova was excited not only to be the first elf of color in the series, but to represent an elf with more humble origins.

“We had never really seen an elf that was the people’s elf,” Cordova mused. “We’d always seen elves that were royal and regal, but we hadn’t seen one that was a frontline soldier, a guy that got an assignment kind of thing. It was pretty cool to represent that, and have a voice within elven-ness. I think a lot of people identify with this elf and his plight.”

Part of why Cordova is happy to have touched a nerve is because he sees his presence and character as part of a natural evolution of how the fantasy genre should operate. “It is necessary to revise things and represent and exist,” he said. ” I think a lot of people look at us to affirm their own existence, so I’m happy people can look at that and look at any of us and see themselves in this beautiful world we all should belong in — fantasy.”

Cordova was joined on the Brave Warriors panel by Star Trek: Strange New Worlds star Ethan Peck, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes actor Owen Teague, Hellboy: The Crooked Man‘s Jack Kesy, and Lewis Tan of Deadpool & Wolverine. The actors discussed everything from the strictness (or lack thereof) of their diet and exercise regimens when preparing to play these larger-than-life characters to their pump-up songs (one of Cordova’s is “Swish Swish,” by Katy Perry) to the various skills they’ve lied about having to book a job (does anyone in Hollywood actually know how to ride a horse?).

Ismael Cruz Cordova at San Diego Comic-Con.Jerod Harris/Getty

The proceedings were briefly interrupted by a fire alarm and mandatory evacuation, though the panelists had varying opinions about how to respond to the (not at all imminent) danger. “Don’t worry, we’ll save you guys if there’s a problem,” quipped Tan, before Cordova reminded him that they only play brave warriors on screen, adding, “Don’t lean on us.”

After a momentary exit, the panelists returned to reflect on the process of having prosthetic ears applied, the value of practical effects and elaborate wigs, and more.