could extend Gandalf and Galadriel's 24-year on-screen streak, but what role might they have in the story? Despite Prime Video's ongoing journey into Middle-earth's deep, dark history, Warner Bros. has announced it will return to a well-known and beloved Middle-earth era instead. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will likely be set between the events of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings adaptations, with Andy Serkis returning to New Zealand to direct and presumably star.

In J.R.R. Tolkien's notes, This is referenced in Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring, when Gandalf (Ian McKellen) tells Frodo (Elijah Wood) he failed to find Gollum (Serkis). Having been tortured, Gollum revealed all he knew about the One Ring's whereabouts, screaming, "Shire, Baggins!" which, as Frodo so shrewdly remarks, will lead Sauron's Ringwraiths straight to Bag End. Given the story's place in the timeline, plenty of familiar characters could appear in The Hunt for Gollum, including two of Middle-earth's oldest and wisest: Gandalf and Galadriel.

, including every installment of Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, as well as Prime Video's appendix-inspired epic The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Of course, Gandalf and Galadriel were thousands of years old by the time they set sail for the West in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, so their enduring presence isn't necessarily surprising, though it is still a remarkable feat.

Not all of Middle-earth's leading elves and wizards can say the same. Rivendell's Elrond, for instance, portrayed by Hugo Weaving in Jackson's movies and Robert Aramayo in The Rings of Power, missed out on an appearance in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The wizard Saruman, portrayed with the necessary gravitas by the late Sir Christopher Lee in Jackson's movies, has not yet had a confirmed role in The Rings of Power; the series has gone to great lengths to point out similarities between Middle-earth's greatest betrayer and Rhûn's Dark Wizard, however.

We know Gandalf will have a role to play in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and not just because the movie's presumed narrative demands his presence. Sir Ian McKellen revealed that Serkis approached him about reprising his role for Gollum, though his involvement has yet to be confirmed. Given Peter Jackson's participation as a producer and Serkis' promise that the movie will be surprising but "very much part of the lore and the feel of the trilogy," McKellen's potential involvement makes sense.

It's been 24 years since McKellen was first seen on screen as Gandalf the Grey in The Fellowship of the Ring, however, which presents a few visual challenges if Gollum is set to take place just before Bilbo Baggins' 111th birthday. Despite massive special effects advancements, the movie may need to recast Gandalf altogether, just as The Rings of Power has done by casting Daniel Weyman as a "younger" Gandalf.

Though Serkis' movie could largely be told from Gollum's perspective, it seems unlikely that The Hunt won't also focus on the action-packed and time-sensitive search for Gollum, as Gandalf and Aragorn (will Viggo Mortensen return?) race against Sauron's dark forces to capture the tragic creature. In Tolkien's works, Gollum searches for Bilbo Baggins after the titular hobbit finds and keeps the One Ring. His search leads him deep into Mirkwood and towards the Lonely Mountain, where he discovers Bilbo's identity and hears about the Shire.

On his way to the Shire, however, Gollum veers wildly off course and heads to Mordor instead, presumably lured in by Sauron's power and the lingering connection to the One Ring. Gollum is captured in Mordor and interrogated, revealing his "Shire, Baggins!" information, which kick-starts Frodo's journey as seen in The Fellowship of the Ring. Throughout all this, and brings him to Mirkwood, where Gandalf begins his attempt at an interrogation.

, but that doesn't mean she couldn't be part of Serkis' upcoming movie. Galadriel has long been one of Gandalf's most trusted friends and allies. Together with Saruman, Elrond, and Círdan, Master of the Grey Havens (present in The Rings of Power season 2), they were important members of the White Council in the Third Age of Middle-earth, as depicted in The Hobbit movies (this wasn't part of the original novel, but pulled from Tolkien's notes and appendices).

This council was meant to share knowledge and discuss potential actions to prevent Sauron's return. Since The Hunt for Gollum will be primarily concerned with Sauron's re-emergence and the Dark Lord's quest for the One Ring, there's no reason Gandalf couldn't seek out Galadriel for her counsel or any information the elves of Lothlórien may have gathered concerning Gollum's whereabouts or Sauron's forces.

Perhaps she directs Gandalf to the archives in Minas Tirith, or they converse psychically, as they've been known to do throughout Jackson's movies, as Gandalf and Aragorn continue their search. Galadriel appears briefly in Jackson's adaptation of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, as she urges Elrond to send aid to those under siege in Helm's Deep, yet there is no mention of this in Tolkien's The Two Towers. Galadriel's involvement in The Hunt for Gollum could be just as brief and non-canonical.

At this point, with a seventh Peter Jackson-related movie adaptation on the way, a distinction should be made between book canon and movie canon. Given the extensive history of Tolkien's Middle-earth and the nature of adaptations, Tolkien's legendarium could never be fully seen on screen or adapted with complete accuracy. Galadriel's involvement in Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, beyond her book role in The Fellowship of the Ring and her brief appearance at the end of Return of the King, is a small part of how Jackson adapted the story to suit an on-screen narrative.

. Keeping her out of The Hunt for Gollum now would be strange, considering Hollywood's version of canon. Galadriel's continued role isn't like the creation of Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) in The Hobbit trilogy. Galadriel has always been an important figure in Middle-earth. Jackson and Co. just prolonged her influence, and Serkis could do so again in .