Lord Of The Rings fans divided over major recasting for new prequel

At long last, a prequel to the original The Lord of the Rings trilogy is in the works and with Andy Serkis set to both direct and reprise his role as Gollum, fans have turned their attention to more possible castings.

First announced last year and set for a 2026 release before being delayed until 17 December 2027, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is an upcoming Warner Bros.

picture which will take place before the events of the original The Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson.

Hear Andy Serkis talk about Gollum in our interview below!

Jackson will be producing the movie alongside his partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and the latter has called The Hunt for Gollum “quite an intense story”.

Boyens has previously gone on to reveal that the movie will be set after the birthday party of Bilbo Baggins and before the Mines of Moria.

“It’s a specific chunk of an incredible untold story, told through the perspective of this incredible creature,” she shared.

Although Serkis will be reprising his role as Gollum, the rest of the cast remains unannounced but with the movie acting as a prequel, fans have started to speculate which actors could take on some of the iconic roles, including the role of Aragorn himself.

The discussion kicked off over on r/lordoftherings when one user posted, “Who could play Aragorn in The Hunter For Gollum?” alongside some images of potential actors.

The list includes Sam Claflin, Richard Madden, Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield, Michael Fassbender, Henry Cavill, Ben Barnes, and even a de-aged Viggo Mortensen.

With Mortensen giving an iconic performance as Aragorn in the original trilogy, whichever actor is chosen will have some big shoes to fill.

“Hopefully someone that isn’t really famous, some of these actors would distract from the story,” the top comment by user ArcirionC read.

Another user thinks the actor should look like Aragorn’s book counterpart.

“If going by the book description (which they obviously don’t have to) most of these actors are too fresh faced and pretty,” they shared.

“Aragorn in the books was described as stern looking with flecks of grey in his hair and a weather beaten complexion.”

It remains to be seen which actor will step into this iconic role when The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum releases in cinemas on 17 December 2027.