Saruman returns in Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, but don’t expect to see Gandalf – he’s name-dropped towards the end of the movie, and there’s a good reason why he doesn’t appear.
The War of the Rohirrim has just arrived in cinemas. Set over 180 years before the events of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it doesn’t have anything to do with the One Ring, nor does it include Sauron.
However, it is a pivotal Third Age story. It follows Hera, the daughter of Helm Hammerhand, the ninth king of Rohan (who also gave Helm’s Deep its epic namesake). When he accidentally kills a Dunlending lord in a fistfight, his son Wulf vows to avenge him, starting a war that leads to a new line of kings.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t any familiar faces: Saruman (voiced by Christopher Lee in archival recordings) shows up, and while Gandalf is referenced, he’s never seen.
Gandalf’s name-drop had an important purpose in War of the Rohirrim
War of the Rohirrim ends with Hera leaving Edoras to find Gandalf, who wants to talk to her about what she saw at Helm’s Deep; specifically, the Orcs collecting rings to take to Mordor.
It’s a big moment, especially for a character without many roots in the source material (she’s not even named in Tolkien’s texts), and it suggests she could play a larger role in the future of Middle-earth than we know.
Dexerto sat down with director Kenji Kamiyama to mark the movie’s release, and we asked him why Gandalf doesn’t appear – and if there were ever plans for a cameo from Sir Ian McKellen.
“ At this stage, we don’t have plans to make him appear in future movies,” he explained.
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“ But even just the letter from Gandalf and his name being mentioned… we wanted to show how the world is connected to the trilogy.
“That’s why [Saruman] appeared in this movie as well, so the audience could feel that the world is connected. And also, as you might have noticed the Orcs looking for the rings and things like that too.”
This was echoed by Philippa Boyens, one of the original trilogy’s writers who mapped out the story for War of the Rohirrim. “That name-dropping was really just wanting to bring in the original live-action films and bring them in on the edges of this particular film, and make it feel like a Lord of the Rings film,” she said.
“We also wanted to circle back with the ring and what they were doing in there and why they were there, and that’s that story thread playing out. But we also needed [Hera] to exit stage left and go… where? And he seemed like the perfect person.”
We also asked Boyens if Aragorn will be recast in The Hunt for Gollum, and she revealed the one Lord of the Rings book she wants the rights to adapt.
If you’ve seen the new film, check out our breakdown of War of the Rohirrim’s ending, and check out our list of the best movies of 2024.
