Gandalf the Grey finally arrives in The Rings of Power season 3

So, the big Tolkien news for 2026 is all about The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and — after all the cloak-and-dagger business — it’s official: we’ve now got Gandalf the Grey fully on deck for series 3. None of this mysterious ‘Stranger’ nonsense any more. Yes, the bearded wizard with the wonky hat is stepping out of the shadows and onto your Prime Video.

'The third season of The Rings of Power will debut on Prime Video on 11 November.'

Full-on Gandalf, at last

Daniel Weyman, who’s been lurking around as the so-called Stranger, finally gets to live out the fantasy of anyone with a childhood bookshelf: wandering Middle-earth as proper Gandalf — cloak, hat, mischief and all. The showrunners actually sat him down before season three kicked off filming and told him outright: 'We want to see that Gandalf has arrived. We want to see him as the wizard we all love from Tolkien’s writings.' That's very much a polite way of saying: put on this ridiculous hat and channel Ian McKellen, thanks.

Weyman sounded positively giddy about it, describing the experience as 'unbelievably spine-tingling' — and Empire dropped a first photo of him in the full pointy ensemble. Allegedly, he found 'a new side' to Gandalf in the process: 'the mischief, the twinkle in his eye' (he’s not wrong, people do remember those bits).

Another film, another Gollum

There’s also movement on the film front. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum kicked off production recently, with Andy Serkis not only directing, but also getting back into his little CGI suit to play Gollum/Smeagol one more time.

• Ian McKellen back as Gandalf (this isn’t confusing at all now: two Gandalfs, same year)
• Lee Pace is Thranduil
• Elijah Wood back as Frodo (yes, again)
• Jamie Dornan is your new Strider/Aragorn
• Leo Woodall as Halvard (one of the Dúnedain — i.e., men in cloaks who look pensive)
• Kate Winslet as Marigol, matriarch of a group of very Hobbit-y folk
• Anya Taylor-Joy as Seren, a Sindar Elf of the woods

The Hunt for Gollum is currently pencilled in for cinema release on 17 December 2027. And as if that wasn’t sufficient Middle-earth, there’s another film already in the works too — working title Shadow of the Past. Bit of trivia if you care: Steven Colbert is writing the script. Most folk know him from the telly, not the Shire, so make of that what you will.