Who’s In? Every Character We Expect in Stephen Colbert’s Lord of the Rings Movie

Okay, here we go: Middle-earth is back at it again, but this time with a twist that nobody really saw coming. Stephen Colbert – yes, that Stephen Colbert, the Late Show guy and famously rabid Tolkien nerd – is actually co-writing the next Lord of the Rings movie. And he’s not just riffing; he’s working alongside Philippa Boyens (no introduction needed if you’ve seen Peter Jackson’s movies) and Peter McGee. The movie’s called The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past. This is not a drill.

So what is it? Short version: we’re getting a new story that dives into a chunk of The Fellowship of the Ring that’s never been adapted before (if you’re a book obsessive, it’s chapters III through VIII). But here’s the curveball — the main story takes place after all the original action, 14 years after Frodo peaced out for the Undying Lands. The Second Chapter of the Fellowship is, fittingly, titled 'The Shadow of the Past,' so if you thought that was just a coincidence, it’s not.

Here’s the official Warner Bros. synopsis, in case you like a little copy-paste for flavor (I know you do):

'The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past is set 14 years after the passing of Frodo. Sam, Merry, and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.'

Right, so we’re post-Third Age here (quick date math for the timeline nerds: the Third Age ended with Frodo’s departure in TA 3021, so 14 years later is smack in the Fourth Age, or Shire Reckoning 1435 for the real sticklers). Expect some heavy nostalgia, plus a lot of familiar faces… plus, apparently, some book-only characters who never made it into the Jackson films. Let’s break down who you’ll probably see – and why some of this might cause spontaneous nerd shrieking.

Who's Who in Colbert’s Middle-earth Movie

• Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee: In Fourth Age 14, Sam is living the dad life to the extreme: nine kids with Rose Cotton, Primrose Gardner being the newest (with four more still to come, because sure, let’s just double the population of Hobbiton). He’s also Mayor of the Shire – actually, he’s been the Mayor since SR 1427, if you’re counting – and is big on council stuff thanks to being made a Counsellor of the North-kingdom with Merry and Pippin. Oh, and he’s got the Red Book, the cornerstone of all Hobbit lore, passed down from Frodo.
• Elanor 'The Fair' Gamgee: The synopsis more or less confirms Elanor is our main character. Sam’s firstborn, born in the same year Frodo leaves Middle-earth, so in SR 1435 she's exactly 14. In Tolkien’s canon, Elanor is already very much a chronicler: she keeps the Red Book after Sam, helps Arwen in Gondor, and basically ties the old story to the new bloodlines. Expect lots of history-digging and possibly some big, secret-revealing moments that fill in those mysterious missing chapters from the books (if that doesn’t tempt you, nothing will).
• Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck: Merry gets to flex both his hero status (Witch-king slayer, anyone?) and his intellect. He’s Master of Buckland now (since SR 1432), married to Estella Bolger, and, in classic Merry fashion, has written a bunch of bookish treatises about Hobbit and Rohirrim linguistics. He’s settled…ish, but if you think that means he won’t jump at a new adventure, you haven’t read enough Tolkien.
• Peregrin 'Pippin' Took: Pippin’s a former knight (Gondor) and now the Thain of the Shire (took over from his dad in SR 1434), married to Diamond of Long Cleeve, and already a proud dad to Faramir Took. He has a massive stash of historical docs at Great Smials – the guy’s basically the Shire’s archivist whether he likes it or not.
• Tom Bombadil (Yes, Really): Tom Bombadil, forever the weirdest and most unsolvable riddle in the Tolkienverse, is finally making it to the big screen. If you only know the movies, you missed him entirely, but book fans have screamed about this for ages. He’s the cheery guy with the blue jacket and yellow boots who seems immune to The One Ring and pops up in chapters Peter Jackson just yeeted from his script. Expect flashbacks, oddball songs, rescue missions (shoutout to Old Man Willow and the Barrow-wights), and maybe just enough screen time to finally start arguments online about what, exactly, he even is.
• Goldberry (The River-daughter): If Tom’s in, Goldberry’s pretty much a given. She’s his better half, daughter of the River-woman, possibly a Maia tied to water (if you believe the deep lore deep-divers). She’s another one who stuns the hobbits with hospitality and total mystery. There’s no way they leave her out.
• Gildor Inglorion: Gildor pops up early in Fellowship ('Three Is Company') as a legit High Elf — Ñoldor, House of Finrod, even. He’s the first elf Frodo meets on the road. In the books, he’s the one who warns Frodo, advises him to trust his friends, and plays a web of communications game you never saw in the films (letting Aragorn and Bombadil in on the secret). He probably left for the West eventually, but flashbacks could finally give him some mainstream screen time. And if you want to see Elijah Wood back even for a minute, there’s a shot it happens here.
• Aragorn (now King Elessar): Reunited kingdom, new age of peace, still the same old stealthy ranger at heart. Aragorn restores everything post-War of the Ring and pops up again with the hobbits in SR 1436, making the whole power dynamic just that much more interesting. He’s got kids now (Eldarion and two daughters) and, yes, still madly in love with Arwen.
• Arwen (Queen of the Reunited Kingdom): Sacrificed her immortality, married Aragorn, and is still making diplomatic moves and taking care of business in the background. According to the book timeline, Elanor serves as Arwen’s maid of honor in Gondor (SR 1436), so there are plenty of narrative ways to bring Arwen, Elanor, and even young Gondorian royalty into the movie and hit those emotional Tolkien beats.

If you’ve been dying for a Lord of the Rings movie that finally tackles some of the book’s biggest loose ends and never-adapted wild cards, this is the project to watch. Yes, Tom Bombadil might finally be given the screen time to confuse, delight, or terrify everyone new to his existence (that’s worth the ticket price alone in my book). Plus, Elanor Gamgee as a main character and the next wave of Hobbit history is a cool move. Colbert’s involvement? Let’s just say, if anyone deserves to go elbow-deep into Tolkien lore, it’s the guy who has a solid five-minute monologue in Quenya tucked away for emergencies.