The Lord of the Ringsfranchise will be returning to the big screen soon with Andy Serkis’ The Hunt for Gollum, which will feature the return of several characters from Peter Jackson’s trilogy. From Gandalf to Gollum himself, the new film will be a reunion of sorts and a blast to an uncovered past regarding the titular character. And The Hunt for Gollum is shooting for the stars, too, as it looks to heavily recruit a Ranger of the North to help track down the villain formerly known as Sméagol.
During an interview with The Playlist, longtime Lord of the Rings writer Philippa Boyens discussed the potential return of Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in the upcoming Serkis film. Boyens confirms that she and several others who form part of the main creative force behind the franchise have already contacted the actor. It seems Aragorn has an important role to play in The Hunt for Gollum, which takes place shortly before the events of Fellowship of the Ring.
“Honestly, that’s entirely going to be up to Viggo, collaboratively and we are at a very early stage. I’ve spoken to Viggo, Andy [Serkis] has spoken to him, Peter [Jackson] has spoken to him, we’ve all spoken to each other and honestly, I cannot imagine anyone else playing Aragorn, but it will be completely and entirely up to Viggo.”
Of course, some might be wondering how this would even work. The Hunt for Gollum would have to feature a younger Aragorn than we’d seen before on screen when Mortensen first played the role decades ago. Boyens confirms Mortensen’s return would be assisted by “digital make-up,” which will presumably de-age the actor for the prequel. Apparently, the biggest factor right now is that the script has not landed on Mortensen’s doorstep just yet.
“I know Andy wants to work with him, but also, we don’t see this as like, using A.I. [technology], this is about a digital make-up, and whether Viggo does it or will entirely depends on how good the script is. And he doesn’t have a script yet. So to be fair to Viggo, let’s see if we write a good enough role and that he can find enough in it to see that it’s a performance he wants to take on. After that, it’ll be between Viggo and Andy of how that is achieved.”
It’s safe to say VFX houses will be busy soon enough bringing back the Lord of the Rings cast in the upcoming prequel. Ian McKellen has been teasing his own return as Gandalf, which will surely use some of that de-aging technology as well. Not-so-fun fact, Mortensen will be older than McKellen was when he first played Gandalf if Aragorn appears in The Hunt for Gollum. Although it would be great for nostalgia purposes, perhaps there is another road to getting these iconic characters back on the big screen.
What ‘The Hunt for Gollum’ Needs to Avoid While Bringing Back Iconic Characters
The big thing The Hunt for Gollum needs to avoid is what plagued Mark Hamill’s return as a young Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian. Instead of simply recasting the actor, Disney chose to deepfake Hamill’s face onto someone else’s, and the final result was uncanny, to say the least. Fortunately, it does seem like The Lord of the Rings crew still has plans to recast Aragorn if need be, while also keeping Mortensen involved in the process. Boyens’ words:
“I suspect if he decides he doesn’t want to do it we would still want him to be heavily involved, like how do we hand this character off. But literally that decision is several, several months away. He’s got to read the script first and that’s exactly what I’m going to be working on when I get out of this interview [laughs].”
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is aiming to release in theaters in 2026, so the studio has some time to settle down on what it will do with the franchise icons. It seems inevitable Aragorn and Gandalf will have to be featured in the story, but the way they go about it could make or break the film. Unless it’s just a short cameo, de-aging Viggo Mortensen for the entirety of The Hunt of Gollum may be an overly ambitious venture with minimal returns. However, if there is someone who could develop groundbreaking VFX technology for good, it’s Andy Serkis.
