The Lord Of The Rings TV Show Could Feature A Young Aragorn

Some new details have come to light about Amazon's billion-dollar Lord of the Rings TV show. Noted fansite TheOneRing says it has heard from multiple sources that the show will feature a young version of Aragorn. The series will "open" with a story focused on a young Aragorn, the site reported, though it's unclear how significant a role the character may have in the series as a whole.

Whatever the case, it's exciting to think about seeing a young version of the legendary ranger played by Viggo Mortensen in Peter Jackson's trilogy. As TheOneRing points out, Amazon has already confirmed the show will not be a retelling of the War of the Ring, and that's exciting because there is SO MUCH more could be explored with a young Aragorn. The site surmises that the show may pull from the Appendices, which are rich with detail.

"This is the greatest advantage the show runners have: that so much of Tolkien’s storytelling, even just in 'Appendix A,' covers a tremendous swath of time," the site said. "Starting with a young Aragorn narrative allows connections to his Numenorean bloodline (and to the founding of Gondor)."

"The fabric of Aragorn's story is just so rich," the site added. "Plentiful in new characters and familiar ones we already love. Recall in #BOTFA when #Thranduil tells his son about this person he must meet (even though we know in book-time Aragorn wasn't born yet)?"

TheOneRing speculates that, should the series focus at least initially on Aragorn, other characters that could show up include Aragorn's father, Arathorn, as well as Elrond's twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir. Aragorn's mother, Gilraen, could also appear.

You should really read TheOneRing's entire Twitter thread about Aragorn's supposed involvement in the show and what it may mean.

Earlier this month, TheOneRight reported that Amazon was reaching out to "multiple established writers, directors, and showrunners" to discuss their ideas for the series. Jackson was reportedly on the list. J. Michael Straczynski--who created or co-created the shows Babylon 5, Crusade, Jeremiah, and Sense8--said he would "give a lung" to work on Amazon's Lord of the Rings show. Straczynski, who wrote the Clint Eastwood-directed Changeling, is a huge Lord of the Rings fan--he wrote a term paper in college completely in Elvish.

Per the supposed terms of an agreement between Amazon and Lord of the Rings rights-holders, the show must enter production within two years, so Amazon is understandably eager to get things going. Amazon is reportedly spending $1 billion to produce the Lord of the Rings TV show, so it is no small undertaking.