The Next Lord of the Rings Movie Can Include the Biggest Character Peter Jackson’s Trilogy Cut

Warner Bros. is heading back to Middle-earth on the big screen, and it’s a chance to do some things differently with The Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson’s movies inevitably had to make some changes to and cuts from the books: even with the Extended Editions, there wasn’t room to fit everything from J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic tomes into the trilogy of films, so tough choices had to be made as some subplots were condensed and even some characters were omitted entirely.

When it comes to the latter, perhaps no one has dominated conversation over the past 20 years more than Tom Bombadil, whose presence within the fandom outweighs his actual role in the story. An enigmatic forest dweller, Tom appears in The Fellowship of the Ring book to aid Frodo Baggins and his fellow Hobbits quite early in their journey after things go wrong for them near his home, offering a place of rest. There, he immediately establishes himself as the most mysterious character in Tolkien’s world. He’s incredibly ancient, more than a little odd, and most intriguingly, completely resistant to the One Ring.

And yet, when The Fellowship of the Ring movie came around, poor ol’ Tom was nowhere to be found. The Hobbits never ventured into the Old Forest, and the merry fellow, with his bright blue jacket and yellow boots, wasn’t seen on-screen. This was somewhat understandable, as it might’ve risked stalling the momentum too much, since he doesn’t directly advance the main plot. Still, Bombadil is a fascinating creation, from his songs to his powers, and simply because so much about him remains unknown even to this day. So, even though the first set of Lord of the Rings movies didn’t include him, could the next one, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum?

How Tom Bombadil Can Appear in The Hunt for Gollum

One advantage to introducing Bombadil in The Hunt for Gollum is that it’s a different kind of story: a little less epic, and even more character-focused. The tale, briefly alluded to in The Lord of the Rings, follows Gandalf and Aragorn’s efforts to track Gollum before he can reveal the One Ring’s location to Sauron’s forces. It’s a story that leaves more room for detours and eccentric encounters, and should have plenty of time for it: this needs expanding to fill an entire movie, and so bringing in some of the things cut, like Tom, would be a way of doing exactly that.

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Bombadil isn’t mentioned as being part of The Hunt for Gollum‘s narrative, but it would actually be pretty simple to include him. If Gandalf and Aragorn are searching across Middle-earth for the creature, it’s easy to imagine their trail leading near Tom’s Old Forest home. Gandalf in particular has the perfect excuse to stop there. In Tolkien’s writings, Bombadil and Gandalf respect one another and are known to have met, even if they operate in very different ways. Having the grey wizard seek Bombadil’s knowledge about the land, and any murmurs or information he might have that could lead them to Gollum, would organically weave him into the story without derailing it.

It would not be exactly the same as his original book role, of course. Although Frodo is said to be in The Hunt for Gollum, it’s difficult to imagine the movie including the Hobbits meeting Tom. But it could still convey how mysterious, old, and powerful he is, and ideally give a sense of how little he’s affected by the One Ring, even if he may not be in its presence.

This wouldn’t even need to be lengthy, and it wouldn’t be a deviation so much as embedded within the narrative. There’s importance to Bombadil in showing just how vast and varied Middle-earth is, and depicting some of Tolkien’s stranger characters. Although he has since been brought to screen in Prime Video’s The Rings of Power, that show has myriad issues that mean it still doesn’t really feel like he’s been done justice and, having been cut from Fellowship, he still deserves his moment on the big screen. Over 20 years after being omitted, Tom’s time should finally arrive.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is currently slated for release on December 17th, 2027. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is available to stream on HBO Max.

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