As the excitement for The Hunt for Gollum continues to ramp up among The Lord of the Rings fans, we're becoming increasingly curious about which stars from the original trilogy could potentially reprise their roles in the new movie. We know that Andy Serkis, who's also directly the movie, will be back as Gollum for the Gollum-centric flick, but who else could be in the new movie?
Recently, Sir Ian McKellen revealed that Gandalf and Frodo would be part of The Hunt for Gollum, though he didn't reveal whether he and Elijah Wood would be reprising their iconic roles. While we wait to see whether the actors will be back onscreen, another Lord of the Rings alum is also talking about the potential to return in the new movie, and that's Orlando Bloom.
During an appearance on ITV's This Morning, Bloom was asked about the upcoming Lord of the Rings project and whether he would be involved in some way as Legolas. While the actor didn't have concrete news to share with fans, he certainly made it seem as though if Legolas was in the story, he would be playing him. Bloom stated that he would "hate" to see anyone else play Legolas.
Orlando Bloom would "hate" to see anyone else play Legolas
As Bloom told the This Morning hosts about coming back to reprise his role in The Hunt for Gollum, "I don’t know, I promise you. Listen, if Legolas is a part of that, whatever chapter they’re doing, then I would hope that I’d get the call, because I’d hate to see anyone else do it. But I really don’t know what the story is, I know it’s a Gollum story so it’s possible."
Ultimately, Bloom isn't shutting down a reprisal in the new movie, but as he tells it, he really doesn't know if Legolas is included in the new chapter of The Lord of the Rings. Even though The Hunt for Gollum already has a December 2027 release date set and will likely begin filming sometime next year, it's entirely possible that Bloom hasn't gotten the call to return yet.
It's also entirely possible that he knows more than he's letting on and simply can't say anything. He wouldn't want to give anything away to fans before the filmmakers are ready to make an announcement after all. On the other hand, Legolas might not actually be included in this story, as much as fans would love to see all of their favorite characters back onscreen.
The Hunt for Gollum isn't a sequel, which means it doesn't take place years after the original trilogy. Rather, the new movie takes place before the original trilogy, which obviously makes bringing back actors from the 2000s movies a bit difficult. It's been nearly 25 years since The Fellowship of the Ring hit theaters in 2001. Movie magic exists, sure, but de-aging most of the cast would be a lot.
Like Bloom, most of us fans also don't want to see new actors playing beloved characters like Legolas either, but that might be necessary moving forward in the franchise. However, nothing has been confirmed or set in stone for The Hunt for Gollum just yet, so we'll have to wait and see what Warner Bros. and Andy Serkis have planned for the highly anticipated movie!