Where's Aragorn? Tolkien Purists Slam Casting Choices in The Hunt for Gollum
The newly announced Lord of the Rings spinoff The Hunt for Gollum hasn't even started filming yet, but Tolkien diehards are already furious over who's in — and who's missing.
Sir Ian McKellen casually confirmed that both Gandalf and Frodo will appear in the Andy Serkis–directed project, which begins filming in May and is set for a December 2027 release.
"I hear there's going to be another movie based in Middle-earth, and it's going to start filming in May," McKellen told fans.
"It's going to be directed by Gollum, and it's all about Gollum. I'll tell you two secrets about the casting: There's a character in the movie called Frodo, and there's a character in the movie called Gandalf. Apart from that, my lips are sealed!"
That "apart from that" has set Tolkien purists off. The biggest question: where is Aragorn?
One top comment on Reddit cut straight to it: "Shouldn't Aragorn be in it given he literally tracks Gollum?" The backlash is rooted in lore — in Tolkien's books, Aragorn captures and escorts Gollum before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. For many fans, leaving him out rewrites canon.
Speculation is swirling about how Warner Bros. might handle the problem. Some users floated the idea of quietly replacing him with Legolas.
"He should [be there], but Viggo Mortensen might not want to do it so the rumour is that they're mostly replacing him with Legolas," one fan claimed.
That set off another round of frustration, with responses like: "I'd honestly rather they just recast Aragorn than retcon Legolas into it."
Others pointed to the age gap that complicates matters. "Viggo is far too old to pull it off now," one commenter noted. Another wryly added,
"For a sense of the time that's passed: Viggo Mortensen is now 5 years older than McKellen was when filming the trilogy."
For some, the whole project already feels like déjà vu. "Honestly makes me less excited," one fan wrote. "The desire to cram every character from the original trilogy into The Hobbit films is one of the worst parts of it." Another quipped, "The Hunt For More Money is the correct title."
With Serkis starring and directing, McKellen back as Gandalf, and Elijah Wood returning as Frodo, Warner Bros. clearly wants to leverage familiar faces. But if Aragorn is sidelined — or swapped out — fans may not forgive it.