The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 finale finally confirmed that Gandalf is present on Middle-earth at this time, but that doesn’t mean he’s the same wise wizard we know from the main series. This prequel sees Gandalf arrive on Middle-earth with no knowledge of who he is or where he came from, and he gradually learns to wield his magic for good thanks in part to the Harfoots. However, actor Daniel Weyman warns that his character has some big mistakes ahead of him that will define his development into Gandalf the Grey. Last week, when Deadline asked him what fans could expect for Gandalf in Season 3, Weyman joked: “Tears.”
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“I’m excited for this plethora of possible pitfalls, errors and failings that young Gandalf can learn from,” the actor said. “Literally anything could happen because the only way we’re going to see a wise being later on is if he does some pretty horrendous accidental things and puts his foot in the wrong places and has to pick it up and learn again. So I’m hoping for lots of that kind of action just so that we can see him develop and learn how he gets to be the wizard that we all love.”
The Rings of Power is set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, though it’s hard to place it on a precise timeline since the show has taken some liberties with chronology. In fact, in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books, Gandalf does not even arrive on Middle-earth until the Third Age, while The Rings of Power takes place in the Second Age. However, the details on what Gandalf was up to during this time come primarily from Tolkien’s book The Silmarillion, while The Rings of Power only has rights to The Lord of the Rings. The show is adapted entirely from the history mentioned within the story, and the appendices at the backs of the novels.
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This detachment from the source material is one of the liberating factors for Weyman. In the same interview, he said that he actually feels very little pressure to live up to Sir Ian McKellen’s iconic performance as Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s trilogies. “No, I think the joy of the piece is that I was given a character who knew nothing at the beginning when he landed in Middle-earth,” he explained. “All I had to do was play each scene as it came. I didn’t need to worry about what was coming later. [He’s] not the same character, it’s thousands of years before he’ll get there, I’m not playing that part.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 just began filming at the end of April, and there’s no word yet on when it might premiere. The previous two seasons are streaming now on Prime Video, while Tolkien’s books are available in print, digital, and audiobook formats.
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