The Lord of the Rings has been around for the better part of a century, but it still has some firsts left. J.R.R. Tolkien’s tales set in Middle-earth first began in 1937 with the release of The Hobbit, which was ultimately followed up by his Lord of the Rings book series between 1954 and 1955. It’s rather miraculous that these pieces of work are still so popular today, though a great deal has changed. As beloved as the Lord of the Rings books are, it’s the film and TV adaptations that have held on in popular culture in recent years.

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movie trilogy has remained the standard for the last couple of decades, and it’s virtually impossible at this point in history to picture Middle-earth and its central characters any other way. Still, Jackson and New Line Cinema aren’t the only ones attempting to bring Tolkien’s world to the screen. Prime Video has taken a stab at Middle-earth’s Second Age in its TV series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

While Rings of Power, which premiered in 2022, was our first return to Tolkien’s world since Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, its period of independence was short-lived. New Line has several more Lord of the Rings projects in the works, including Andy Serkis’ upcoming movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. The film will revolve around Serkis’ titular character ahead of Frodo’s departure from the Shire, and, rather excitingly, Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen are both expected to return for the project.

This means that, for the first time in The Lord of the Rings‘ history, there will be two separate on-screen productions featuring the same iconic character. McKellen has been the Gandalf for decades now, and seeing him return to the role will be an absolute treat. Then, as we prepare for this film’s arrival, we will see Gandalf the Grey portrayed by an entirely different actor in The Rings of Power.

It couldn’t have been an easy thing for actor Daniel Weyman to step into McKellen’s famous role in Rings of Power‘s first two seasons, but he has performed admirably. Of course, when Weyman took the role, he likely couldn’t have anticipated that he would be playing this character around the same time that McKellen returns to the role in a different outlet to the franchise. It’s a lot of pressure, and it’s difficult to say whether Rings of Power, specifically, can survive it.

The Hunt For Gollum Is Bad News For Rings Of Power’s Gandalf

There is a lot more to Gandalf than meets the eye in The Lord of the Rings, which is why a prequel series exploring the character’s origin has been heavily requested for years. Rings of Power has technically delivered in this respect, but it’s not exactly what fans wanted. After all, Gandalf the Grey shouldn’t even exist in Middle-earth during the timeline of The Lord of the Rings.

Weyman’s role in Rings of Power completely contradicts Tolkien canon. Gandalf shouldn’t arrive in Middle-earth until the Third Age, and he absolutely shouldn’t be an amnesiac who has to learn to control his abilities from Tom Bombadil. These are all Prime Video’s additions, and they have caused a significant amount of backlash and criticism. If this wasn’t bad enough, Rings of Power now has to face off with a brand new Star Line Lord of the Rings movie, and Weyman will have to attempt to compete with McKellen himself.

No doubt, this isn’t a situation Weyman likely chose to get into. The comparisons were already bad enough. Now that he is set to be on screen around the same time as the actor who made the role iconic to begin with, the criticisms will only get worse. Hopefully, this actor can still be treated with respect for the work he has done, but it’s hard to deny that McKellen returning is much more exciting news.