Ian McKellen May Return For A New Lord Of The Rings Movie - But Didn't Gandalf Die?

If someone says, "Picture Gandalf!," most people will have one face in their minds: Ian McKellen. The beloved English actor played Gandalf for Peter Jackson's lengthy "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy before reprising the role for the nearly as long "The Hobbit" trilogy. Even in his late 70s, the actor was still wise-cracking about feeling snubbed by Amazon Studios' "The Rings of Power" series, quipping, "I haven't said yes because I haven't been asked. But are you suggesting that someone else is going to play it? Gandalf is over 7,000 years old, so I'm not too old [yet]."

While that casting didn't pan out, it turns out that McKellen is most definitely in the cards to reprise the role in another project: Warner Bros.' upcoming Gollum movie, set to release in 2026. McKellen said (via Deadline), "Enthusiasm for The Lord of the Rings shows no sign of abating ... I can't tell you any more than that. I've just been told there are going to be more films and Gandalf will be involved and they hope that I'll be playing him." He added, "When? I don't know. What the script is? It's not written yet. So, they better be quick."

In another interview with BBC, the English actor also said, "I'm not letting anyone else put on the pointy hat and beard if I can help it." This isn't the first time he's shown playful possessiveness about the role. The question is, can McKellen pick up the pointy hat and staff once again — and does that even make sense within the timeline of the movie? Didn't Gandalf die on a bridge fighting a Balrog? Let's unpack this thing.

Let's start with one important clarification: Gandalf never fully dies in J.R.R. Tolkien's stories. He is a Wizard, which is a key group of immortal Maiar (basically angels or spirits) who are incarnated to fight Sauron. After Gandalf falls into the abyss fighting the Balrog in "The Fellowship of the Ring," he chases the monster back up to the mountain's peak, where he slays the demon. Later, in "The Two Towers" book, he explains, "Then darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell. Naked I was sent back – for a brief time, until my task is done." After that, he becomes Gandalf the White, finds his friends (and some clothes), fights Sauron's armies, helps Aragorn return as the King, and ensures that the One Ring is destroyed. Then, he sails overseas to the Undying Lands in the West, where we don't hear from him anymore (although, chances are that he gets out of his old-man body and resumes his life as a Maiar).

So, Gandalf doesn't fully die during "The Lord of the Rings." But it turns out that point is moot anyway, as a Gollum movie would likely focus on the 76-year period of time between "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings." Clearly, Gandalf is in both of those stories, and he doesn't stop operating in their interim, either. On the contrary, the Wizard remains fully involved in events as they lead up to the War of the Ring and Frodo's epic quest.

If Gandalf is alive during the time a Gollum movie would take place, it begs the question, what would he do in it? How much would he be involved? The answer is quite a bit, actually — there are quite a few other characters we could see in a "Hunt for Gollum" movie too. In the tidbits of information that we have about this period of time, J.R.R. Tolkien tells us that Gandalf explores huge swaths of Middle-earth looking for Gollum. Eventually, he detours to do some One Ring research, and from there, he finds out that Aragorn caught Gollum and delivered him to Legolas' people in Mirkwood. Gandalf heads to the Elven halls, where he interrogates and semi-tortures Gollum (or at least threatens to) to get news of his doings.

Those are his main roles. Not a ton, but definitely not a cameo.

The natural follow-up is, can Ian McKellen manage a role this potentially intensive at this point in his career? The actor is already taking the rest of 2024 off from acting after suffering from a fall during a stage play in June. While he appears fine and on the road back to a full recovery, that does mean when he returns next year, he'll turn 86 on May 25, 2025. McKellen is aware of the age issue. His one previously stated condition for returning to a Gollum movie was "If I'm alive." 

Father Time is doing his thing, as always, and the lingering concern here is clearly if they can get McKellen on board and film his parts while the actor is still willing and able to do so. The good news is that while Gandalf is involved, he doesn't have any fighting heroics or overly active parts in the story. All that's required is to get him on set, in costume, and talking with his iconic Gandalf voice, and we'll be golden. Come on, Peter Jackson, Andy Serkis, and company. Let's get cracking!