What Elijah Wood Finds 'Very Bizarre' About The Lord Of The Rings TV Show

Never let it be said that Elijah Wood doesn't know his The Lord of the Rings trivia. The actor who brought Frodo Baggins to life in Peter Jackson's Oscar award-winning trilogy is celebrating The Fellowship Of The Ring's 20th anniversary with an extensive Empire interview, and via Fandom's first look, it seems Wood has one issue with Amazon's upcoming Lord of the Rings series that he just can't stop talking about.

"I find it very bizarre that they're calling it Lord of the Rings as a shorthand, because it's not Lord of the Rings," he said, according to Fandom. "It takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth."

Indeed, Amazon's upcoming series is set more than 2,000 years before the events of either The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. As Wood noted, the show will take place during the Second Age of Middle Earth, a period that's notable for being the era when Sauron created the One Ring that Frodo would eventually be tasked with carrying to Mordor. That means it's actually more in-line with author J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion than it is with the famed trilogy.

However, The Silmarillion doesn't have the same name recognition that The Lord of the Rings carries, and since the Amazon series is on track to becoming the most expensive show in television history, the streamer has a good reason for wanting name recognition on its side. (It should also be noted that the fantasy series doesn't have an official title yet, but it would be shocking if The Lord of the Rings isn't included in the show's final name in one way or another.)

While he understands why Amazon wants to make sure viewers know they're tuning into a show set in The Lord of the Rings universe, Wood is first and foremost a Tolkien fan, and he really wants the streamer to get the name right. Back in July 2020, the actor revealed to IndieWire why he's so hung up on the show's title.

At the time, Wood said he thought the title was "slightly misleading" due to the time period of the series. However, he is excited to see what the writers come up with since they'll have so much freedom to build a fresh story set in The Lord of the Rings' universe.

"From what I understand, the material they are working on exists chronologically further back in history in the lore of Lord of the Rings or Middle Earth than any characters represented in Lord of the Rings," Wood said. "It sounds more Silmarillion era. Not to get nerdy, but it's the Second Age of Middle Earth ... In that sense, I'm just curious what the storytelling is going to be."

Still, even though the show's potential The Lord of the Rings title bugs Wood, he told IndieWire he would be up for a cameo as long as it was "organic." Ultimately, the actor is protective of the source material, but he's also a Tolkien fan who seems to be looking forward to the series — he just really wants Amazon to come up with a title that befits the story's unique setting within the timeline of Middle Earth's history.