What WB's New Lord Of The Rings Movies Could (And Should) Be About

"I think I'm quite ready for another adventure."

When an aged Bilbo Baggins spoke that wistful line at the end of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," it was meant as a bittersweet and definitively final note to put a capper on one of the most formative blockbuster trilogies to ever grace the silver screen. Not even Jackson or co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens could've anticipated that they'd once again be roped back into Middle-earth for an entire trilogy of "The Hobbit" movies, let alone watch from the sidelines as Prime Video swooped in to acquire the television rights for a $500+ million series called "The Rings of Power." But in an IP-fixated blockbuster landscape where we're likely to get a never-ending stream of Marvel movies and "Star Wars" installments until the heat death of the universe, it was probably inevitable that the same would be true of author J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy touchstone.

The news that Warner Bros. Discovery and New Line Cinema struck a deal with Embracer Group to launch multiple new "The Lord of the Rings" movies certainly made headlines, but it also triggered more questions than answers. Does this mean a remake of Jackson's trilogy is on the way? Can we expect Ian McKellen to pick up his sword and staff once again for some sort of Gandalf origin story? How will this work with the prequel story that "The Rings of Power" is telling? And most importantly, is it finally time for us Tom Bombadil truthers to have our moment in the sun?

While we can't claim any exclusives here, a thorough reading of all the tea leaves at least suggests the paths that these movies may and may not take. So join us on this speculative adventure!

The one iota of concrete information accompanying the reports of new "The Lord of the Rings" movies came with the assurance that these wouldn't be a "retread" of what fans have seen before. Of course, the admittedly vague phrasing still leaves the door open for all sorts of possibilities, even as it appears to dismiss the presumptive clickbait-y panic about a full-scale remake of the Peter Jackson trilogy. (Although, if you ask me, that's probably going to happen sooner rather than later ... so prepare yourselves now!) But for the time being, it's safe to assume that even CEO David Zaslav knows well enough to keep the beloved movie adaptations untouched.

But what about the involvement of Jackson himself? Well, that's where things get more interesting.

Deadline reports that the main creative team behind the trilogy — Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens — have all been "kept [...] in the loop" about the upcoming plans and "look forward to speaking with [Warner Brothers and Embracer] further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward." Say what? This feels like more of a shocker than anything else, given that Prime Video only recently made overtures to Jackson about seeking his input for "The Rings of Power," only to abruptly pull back and leave him hanging instead. Since their hesitance came from the fact that their prequel series is contractually obligated to remain separate and distinct from Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" canon, this would seem to indicate that no such issues will impact the new movies — for better or worse.

This is likely good news for those hoping for more stories with the same Jackson-established tone, aesthetics, and continuity. It may be less so for those itching for something genuinely new.

As with any high-profile news about more adventures set in the world of Middle-earth, the question inevitably turns to where — and, more importantly, when — these stories may take place. For context, the events of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" both occur in the Third Age, which encompasses the roughly 3,000-year period between Sauron's first defeat (as seen in the prologue of "The Fellowship of the Ring") and the final moments of "The Return of the King" marking the end of the War of the Ring. "The Rings of Power" takes place during the similarly lengthy Second Age.

But what about these new movies?

Nothing in the report suggests any specific time periods, but it's easy to guess that it will be in the mutual interests of both Warner Bros. Discovery and Prime Video to avoid any sort of messy creative overlap between their respective properties. Theoretically, these movies would be well within their rights to put their own spin on the entire storyline that "The Rings of Power" is dealing with but, again, don't expect anything along those lines. That brings us to the elephant in the room of any discussion of Middle-earth adaptations: "The Silmarillion." The legendarium of historical tales and poems takes place during the First Age, but the rights to that epic-sized text remain locked up by the Tolkien Estate, so we can rule that out as well.

That likely leaves us with a similar copyright situation as "The Rings of Power," which was constrained to characters and events described within the pages of "The Hobbit," "The Lord of the Rings," and the appendices detailing both past and future events — though with plenty of space to invent new characters and events.

When studios have jumpstarted popular IPs, they've usually done so by by leading with a nostalgia-heavy legacy sequel while mixing in nostalgia-heavy spin-offs. Disney did this with "Star Wars" upon acquiring Lucasfilm and Paramount took a very similar route with "Star Trek." So with Warner Bros. returning to Middle-earth in live-action for the first time in a decade (remember, there's that animated "The War of the Rohirrim" film in the works, too), will anyone be surprised if they do the same?

It seems eminently likely that we can anticipate stories taking place relatively concurrently with the events of "The Hobbit" and/or "The Lord of the Rings." Ever wonder what mischief Gollum got up to with the One Ring all those long years underneath the Misty Mountains? Hey, if he can be the star of a video game, then why not a movie? Or how about the adventures of Aragorn as a ranger in the wilderness, silently protecting the borders of the Shire from nefarious forces? We know there's been interest in an Aragorn prequel, so don't be surprised to hear casting news for a young Aragorn in the near future. And, look, I'm just going to say it: gritty Tom Bombadil origin story, folks.

There's one other intriguing possibility. The appendices include a timeline of the Fellowship's doings after the One Ring's destruction and Sauron's defeat, and casual fans may be surprised by how much drama this Fourth Age contains. Between King Aragorn's efforts to reclaim Gondor's territories, the diminishing presence of Elves and Dwarves, and even Tolkien's famously abandoned sequel story, could we instead get movies exploring future events in Middle-earth?

One thing's certain: letting go of "The Lord of the Rings" feels just as hard as letting go of the One Ring itself.