On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ films, the original creators are coming together to film the prequel for the trilogy. The story would precede the events in the movie and will investigate the profound lore of the trilogy.
WB recently announced that they’re green-lighting a prequel to ‘Lord of the Rings’ titled ‘Lord of the Rings: War of Rohirrim’. The film will deal with the legend of Rohan and explore Helm’s Deep as a fictional setting. So, what’s the news?
Highlights —
- WB Announces ‘War of Rohirrim’
- Original creators coming back
- What would happen on screen?
‘LORD OF THE RINGS’ ANIME PREQUEL
Longtime fans of Tolkein lore are familiar with the story of the Rohirrim. The mythical Rohan and its people were trained horseback warriors who held onto their territory for centuries, a Rohan region.
The ‘Lord of the Rings’ anime prequel deals with this story and the subsequent war between two forces. While fans of the movies would be most familiar with the fantastic elements of the trilogy, this story is most likely to feature humans and the wars that shaped the world that Frodo travels in centuries later during the trilogy events.
The warriors who would later take on the name of Rohirrim once helped defend Gondor against a siege and were given territory as a result. This territory became the Kingdom of Rohan and was commanded by seven kings, which led the domain to become one of the strongest tribes.
However, when Helm Hammerhand took over, a power-grabbing man in the city tried to siege power by marrying his daughter to Helm’s son. Helm caught on and killed the man, Freca, but the son, Wulf, went on to plan a prolonged act of revenge.
Commanding the army of a warring tribe, Wulf would bring Rohan to its knees, and only when Helm’s nephew took on the position of king and held onto the territory did Wulf lose. Gondor came to aid, and the kingdom of Rohan came back again.
THE ORIGINAL CREATORS
As soon as WB announced ‘War of Rohirrim’, people wondered who will be helming the project. Fans can rest easy knowing that WB is bringing back some of the original team to deal with the epic battle.
Among these is Philippa Boyens, who has worked with both ‘Hobbit’ and ‘Lords of the Ring’ trilogies. While the story will not have the usual Peter Jackson touch, as he is not coming back, some experienced fantasy storytellers take charge of this as well. WB has also tapped into anime legend Kenji Kamiyama for the ‘Lord of the Tings’ anime prequel. Kamiyama has worked with numerous ‘Ghost in the Shell’ storylines and has directed classics like ‘Ultraman’ and ‘Cyborg 009’ in Japan.
The animation work will be taken up by Sola Animations which has also worked on ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Ultraman’ among other projects.
This is not all. The writers working on the prequel are the storytellers behind ‘The Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance’, Jeffrey Addis and Will Matthews. With the talented team helming the film and the exciting story of Rohirrim, we can expect exciting times ahead.
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN ON SCREEN?
For the movie fans, there are no old characters set to return for the prequel yet. While this would be confirmed by WB later, none of the characters are present in the ‘War of Rohirrim’ story.
A human war set off by internal political strife is one of the least fantastical pieces of ‘Lord of the Rings’ lore, but the story plays an integral part in deciding the fate of the movies years later. Helm’s Deep, where the warriors from Rohan meet Saruman, is named after the War of Rohirrim, and the history of Rohan’s people is fascinating.
However, while Gandalf, Legolas, and most of the other elven warriors from the trilogy were alive during the war, they took no part in it. So fans who want to see their favourite characters again will be disappointed with the ‘Lord of the Rings’ anime prequel. This is a chance for the longtime fans to delve into the deep history that marks off Tolkein’s fiction and deals with the wars that shaped Middle-Earth before the great battle at Helm’s Deep.
