Ready to feel older than Elrond? The Fellowship of the Ring, the first movie in The Lord of the Rings film series, was released in theaters twenty years ago as of December 19, 2021. After emotionally recovering from that bombshell, fans were saved from a bout of existential dread by a flurry of awesome throwbacks on social media - including an addition from none other than Orlando Bloom.
Orlando Bloom, known to the denizens of Middle Earth as Legolas, shared a cool Lord of the Rings throwback to commemorate the first film’s 20th anniversary ahead of Amazon’s upcoming The Lord of the Rings streaming series. Check out his post below:
Fans were treated to an action shot that featured Legolas in all of his platinum blonde splendor as he took aim on his longbow atop an armored horse. The snapshot was accompanied by Apple’s elf emoji (it bears a striking resemblance to a certain prince of Mirkwood) and a caption that read "They’re taking the hobbits to Isengard." Cue the electronic rave remix. It’s unclear which film set the photo is from, but The Two Towers would be my educated guess.
Somewhat serendipitously, the 20th anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring is quite close to the upcoming release of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings streaming series. Don’t let the title fool you: it’s not a reboot (some things are sacred). Rather, the show will be partly be based on material from The Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien’s massive tome recounts the creation of Middle Earth and the events comprising the First and Second Ages. The Third Age (when LOTR takes place) is briefly mentioned, but most of the story is laid out in the actual trilogy.
Amazon’s series will cover the Second Age, an era that saw the initial rise and defeat of Sauron, the forging of the One Ring and the introduction of the Nazgul. While Orlando Bloom isn’t likely to reprise his role as Legolas, fans don’t have to despair. At least three major characters from The Lord of the Rings have been confirmed to appear on the show, including Galadriel, Elrond and Sauron. There’s no word on who will portray Elrond or Sauron, but the younger version of Galadriel will be played by Morfydd Clark (His Dark Materials).
Whether Legolas appears in the new series or not, it’s clear that both Orlando Bloom and the fans are still entranced by the magic of Middle Earth. Are you yearning to revisit the Misty Mountains and the verdant Shire? The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King (including the gargantuan extended edition) are all available to stream now on HBO Max. Need more? Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy is also locked and loaded on the streaming service.
