5 Lord Of The Rings Characters We Could See In The Hunt For Gollum
On May 9, Warner Bros. Discovery revealed that new Middle-earth movies were officially on the way. This came on the heels of a year filled with cryptic statements and suggestions that there might be a resurrection of the "Lord of the Rings" IP in the form of new full-length feature films. The first movie officially slated for release in 2026 is a Gollum movie under the working title "The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum." It will be produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Andy Serkis (who plays Gollum in the original "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" trilogies).
The topical choice is an interesting one. A fan film by the name "The Hunt for Gollum" already exists (and you can watch it for free.) In addition, centering an entire narrative around Andy Serkis' Gollum sounds intriguing, but it's hard to tell if the Gollum character can hold up an entire story on his own two scrawny shoulders. Truth be told, he can't, which is why, if Serkis, Jackson, and Company are going to make this work, they're going to need to bring some additional characters into the story.
Fortunately, Tolkien doesn't put Gollum on his own very often in the source material. Throughout most of his story, Gollum is close to one important person or another. During "The Lord of the Rings," the bulk of his associations are Frodo and Sam. However, before that story, he makes quite a few enemies (and a handful of friendish types, to boot). Here are five of the individuals who might pop up in a "Hunt for Gollum" movie.
Aragorn, son of Arathorn, will probably play a central role
If you're going to have a "Hunt for Gollum" movie, you need to get Aragorn involved. For those who have only watched the movies, the suggestion may sound a bit confusing. The Ranger doesn't cross paths with Gollum during "The Lord of the Rings" story. Before that narrative starts, though, Aragorn becomes more comfortable with Gollum's company than he'd like.
In the book "The Fellowship of the Ring," Aragorn tells the Council of Elrond that he helped Gandalf hunt Gollum when the Wizard was seeking information about the One Ring. This is one of the events that lead up to Gandalf's return to Bad End to see if Frodo kept his secret safe and to inform him that he needs to pack up and get out of Dodge before Black Riders get him.
Gandalf and Aragorn hunt for Sméagol together, but it's Strider who does more of the grunt work. Aragorn tells the Council that he came within sight of the Black Gate during his pursuit and stumbled on the sneaky wretch by fortune. Gollum bites Aragorn and the Ranger has to forcibly return him to Mirkwood (hundreds of miles away). "I deemed it the worst part of all my journey, the road back," Aragorn says in the book, "watching him day and night, making him walk before me with a halter on his neck, gagged, until he was tamed by lack of drink and food, driving him ever toward Mirkwood."
As the one who does most of the titular hunting, Aragorn is a major player in the capture of Gollum by the anti-Sauron allies. Who knows, maybe the studio can even get Viggo Mortensen back to play the Ranger one more time.
Gandalf will once again be driving the heroes in their mission
While Aragorn is the one who specifically hunts and even comes up with the idea of chasing after Gollum, he does so while helping Gandalf. This is because the Grey Wizard is intimately involved in the plot and a shoo-in for a movie like this. "The Fellowship of the Ring" book says, "Then Gandalf told [the Council of Elrond] how [Gandalf and Aragorn] had explored the whole length of Wilderland, down even to the Mountains of Shadow and the fences of Mordor." As they go along, they hear rumors about Gollum's passing, but, they can't find the creature.
This is when Gandalf heads off to Gondor to research the One Ring in the libraries of Denethor. Once he hears that Aragorn succeeded in the quest, he books it to Mirkwood, where he finds Gollum in the Wood-elves' prison. This is when Gandalf lets out a bit of his more terrible side by torturing the tight-lipped Gollum and scaring him into spilling the beans about where he's been and who he's been talking to.
Like Aragorn, Gandalf is a major factor in the story of the "Hunt for Gollum." The question here is whether Gandalf actor Ian McKellen would be willing and able to return to Middle-earth for yet another stint as the Grey Wizard after his return for "The Hobbit" trilogy. If he isn't up for the task, it might finally be time to begin recasting the original cast of Jackson's trilogy if we're going to see the franchise survive for multiple movies in the future. (Besides, Amazon Studios' "The Rings of Power" series may have already recast Gandalf anyway.)
The Dark Lord Sauron could be quite involved
Another major candidate in the "Hunt for Gollum" drama is the Dark Lord himself. Sauron and Gollum cross paths before the latter is captured by Aragorn. In fact, at the Council of Elrond in "The Fellowship of the Ring" book, Aragorn says of Gollum, "He had suffered much. There is no doubt that he was tormented, and the fear of Sauron lies black on his heart."
Earlier in that book, Gandalf explains to Frodo that while Gollum searches for the Ring, he is eventually drawn away toward Mordor due to the overpowering allure of the Lord of the Rings who dwelt there. The Wizard says, "Sooner or later as he lurked and pried on the borders he would be caught, and taken – for examination." During that time, Gollum tells Sauron that the One Ring has been found, a "Baggins" has it, and that they live in an obscure corner of the world called "The Shire." There's no doubt that Gollum sees the Dark Lord himself in some form, too, as he references Sauron's "Black Hand" in "The Two Towers" book.
Eventually, Gollum escapes, but Aragorn later guesses that even this was done on purpose, and Sauron allowed the creature to go free. Chances are that Gollum crosses paths with Sauron in this movie, which will make it easy to integrate the terrifying villain into the script.
Shelob could even make an appearance
Gollum doesn't have friends. If there's one individual in Middle-earth who comes close to that description, though, it's his partner in crime, Shelob. Gollum worships Shelob and, in "The Lord of the Rings," he uses the arachnid monster to try to get the One Ring back from Frodo. He's able to do this because he has already made Shelob's acquaintance—an event that happens during the "Hunt for Gollum" timeline.
In the appendices of "The Return of the King," there is a detailed timeline of the Third Age. In the year 2980 of that age, roughly 40 years before the War of the Ring, it says "About this time Gollum reaches the confines of Mordor and becomes acquainted with Shelob." Just for kicks and giggles, we should add that it also says that this is the year Shelob's future nemesis, Sam Gamgee, is born.
We get a little bit more insight into this meeting in "The Two Towers" book, when Tolkien provides some exposition about the two villain's initial interactions long before Gollum leads the Ring-bearer into her lair. The text says, "Already, years before, Gollum had beheld her, Sméagol who pried into all dark holes, and in past days he had bowed and worshipped her, and the darkness of her evil will walked through all the ways of his weariness beside him, cutting him off from light and from regret. And he had promised to bring her food." It is a dark chapter, even in the life of Gollum, and one that could spice up a travel-heavy story with a touch of good, ol' monster horror.
The Woodland Elves play a big role in the Gollum Hunt
This one is technically a twofer, as there are two well-known characters in the Wood-elves' halls—which is where Aragorn brings Gollum after capturing him. We're talking about King Thranduil and Prince Legolas, played by Lee Pace and Orlando Bloom, respectively, in previous Jackson adaptations. This father-son Elven duo are barely mentioned directly in the Gollum tale in Tolkien's writings, but Thranduil is clearly in charge of the realm where Gollum is kept in prison, and likely was communicating with Gandalf and Aragorn throughout the process.
Legolas is also directly connected to the story since, in the books, he is the messenger sent to "The Council of Elrond" to report that Gollum had escaped captivity while under their watch. This is another big part of the "Hunt for Gollum" story. At the Council, Legolas reports that the elves eventually show pity on Gollum and his guards even let him out of his dungeon to climb trees and stretch his legs from time to time. At one point, the Slinker refuses to come down, just in time for an Orc band to make what, in hindsight, was a clearly coordinated attack.
While the specifics are never known, Gollum escapes with the raiders and doesn't show up again until he's discovered tracking the Fellowship of the Ring. The portion of the story that takes place in the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood is another key part of "The Hunt for Gollum," and one that opens the doors for more than one fascinating character to enter the narrative.