Lord of the Rings Fans React to Anya Taylor-Joy's Casting in The Hunt for Gollum

Lord of the Rings fans person fixed their reactions to the announcement that Anya Taylor-Joy has been formed arsenic a caller quality not originated by J.R.R. Tolkien successful the upcoming spinoff movie The Hunt for Gollum.

Taylor-Joy's casting comes with fewer different details astir her role, different than the information that the Super Mario Galaxy Movie prima volition play a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm, described arsenic "a trusted and lethal cause of King Thranduil."

Reacting to the news, galore fans person commented that Seren's relation sounds akin to Tauriel — the quality played by Lost and Ant-Man prima Evangeline Lilly successful Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies — who was besides an elven adjutant for Thranduil, arsenic good arsenic being 1 of that trilogy's astir arguable additions.

Anya Taylor-Joy. Image credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images.

"Who the hellhole is Seren?" wrote PuzzleheadedBag920, succinctly summing up galore fans' thoughts successful a lengthy thread connected reddit. "The sanction of the Goddess of the Elves successful RuneScape, funnily enough," added different fan, Any-sao.

Perhaps it is not a astonishment that The Hunt for Gollum indispensable diagnostic further characters not successful Tolkien's enactment — simply due to the fact that the movie's full premise is based connected a play lone mentioned concisely successful The Lord of the Ring's text. The movie dramatizes Gollum's whereabouts anterior to Fellow of the Ring, portion Gandalf, Aragorn and Sauron's forces each question the Ring. If you're adding capable worldly to crook that into a two-hour movie, past it's apt you're going to request plentifulness of characters to bash so.

"My favourite portion of the 3 paragraphs successful which Gandalf described the Hunt for Gollum was erstwhile Seren came successful and did immoderate she's going to bash oregon not do," quipped different fan, aragonaut. "I'm truthful gladsome they got Anya Taylor Joy to construe specified an unsung hero."

"I perfectly adore Anya arsenic an histrion truthful this isn't directed astatine her arsenic a person," AnonyMcnonymous began, "but I truly privation they would halt making up s*** and adding it to the story. Didn't they larn thing from that bid wreck that happened successful the past movies they made astir Bilbo's journey?"

"New elf quality worked truthful good successful The Hobbit movies, wherefore not tally it back?" commented jayhawk8.

"As acold arsenic I'm acrophobic they made 3 films successful the aboriginal aughts and past Warner Bros enactment the franchise connected the vessel to Valinor," claimed ASCII_Princess.

Other Tolkien fans person criticized Seren's name, which appears to person originated from the real-world connection of Welsh.

"Seren means 'star' successful Welsh," revealed No_Imagination5705. "Welsh and Finnish were linguistic sources of inspiration for Tolkien erstwhile helium developed Quenya and Sindarin (the languages of the Elves). Call maine pedantic, but that does not marque Welsh canon, nor does the sanction [make] etymological consciousness successful the fiction. Nearly each names successful Tolkien's works person meaning, and with truthful galore Tolkien scholars today, wherefore not deduce a Quenya oregon Sindarin name?

"Gil means 'Star-light', Elen 'Star'," they continued. "[So you could have] Elenya, Eleneth, Eleniel, Elenwë, Gilwen, Elenissë, Eleriel, Elenindë, Giliel, Elenwen. There's virtually truthful galore options they could've chosen that made sense. Seren doesn't."

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum volition bring Taylor-Joy to Middle-earth erstwhile the movie premieres December 17, 2027. For much portion we hold for updates, you tin work astir wherefore Jackson compared the prequel movie to Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker.

Image credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social