Summary
- The Rings of Power
will introduce beloved character Tom Bombadil into the
Lord of the Rings
universe for the first time in live-action. - Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay sought to bring Bombadil to life in a way that adds brightness to an otherwise darker season of the series.
- Bombadil’s inclusion in
The Rings of Power
highlights the show’s commitment to honoring Tolkien’s work in a longer format than previous adaptations.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is the definitive work of fantasy literature from the mid-20th century, and as such, there have been many different adaptations of it over the years. Whether it be the various animated films from the likes of Ralph Bakshi and Rankin/Bass Productions or the live-action movie adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit from Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema, every version of Middle-Earth that has been brought to screens has come with its own unique details and approach to the material.
One of the newest avenues through which Tolkien’s writing has been brought to screens is The Rings of Power, the live-action television series that debuted on Prime Video in 2022. As the second season of The Rings of Power gears up for release at the end of this summer, the streaming series is doing everything it can to differentiate itself from other Lord of the Rings adaptations, such as the upcoming films The War of the Rohirrim and The Hunt for Gollum. A major way the show is doing this is by finally bringing to life one of the biggest fan-favorite characters from the books, one who has never appeared in any film or television adaptation before. Of course, we’re talking about the jolly old Tom Bombadil.
Rory Kinnear Will Bring Tom Bombadil to Life in The Rings of Power
The stage is set for many different characters from Tolkien’s mythology to make their way into the second season of The Rings of Power. Sauron’s deceptively fair form of Annatar was confirmed in the first trailer for the new season, and fans have been speculating for years about how the show will incorporate characters like Celeborn, Anárion, Círdan, the Blue Wizards, and many more. However, Tom Bombadil was not a character at the top of many fans’ minds.
While Bombadil has appeared in a few smaller stories, such as Tolkien’s 1934 poem “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil,” he has never been a major character in the broader Lord of the Rings franchise. He does not factor into the events of Middle-Earth’s Second Age, which is partially why fans are so surprised that he will have some sort of presence in the second season of The Rings of Power. He will be portrayed in the series by Rory Kinnear, who is most well known for his roles in Black Mirror, Alex Garland’s Men, and the James Bond films starring Daniel Craig.
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Bombadil is most well known for his small yet memorable role in the first half of Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring novel. In the book, the hobbits Frodo, Samwise, Pippin, and Merry encounter the strange character while journeying to the village of Bree. He is one of the strangest characters in Tolkien’s Legendarium, as he sings and dances just about everywhere he goes, and it’s implied that he is as old as the world itself. He cares for the woods he lives in, and in many ways, he operates as an embodiment of nature itself. Despite his cartoony appearance and personality, Bombadil is also a very wise older man, and he helps the hobbits out of more than one sticky situation during their early adventure.
Why He Was Cut From Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Movies
Although Bombadil plays a small role in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books, he is one of the most memorable characters to be found within their pages. His relentlessly joyful personality and the enigma surrounding his history in the world have fascinated fans since the book’s publication. Because of this, it is somewhat surprising that the character has never actually appeared in a film or television adaptation of the books. While he has been included in materials like radio plays and video games, he has yet to receive a major on-screen appearance that cements the character in the minds of more casual Lord of the Rings fans.
The most notable exclusion of the character was from the iconic trilogy of Lord of the Rings films directed by Peter Jackson in the early 2000s. Jackson, who co-wrote those films with Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, has spoken openly about Bombadil’s removal from the story, saying that they felt the character didn’t do enough to forward the overall plot of the film and, as such, was removed fairly early on in the writing process. Boyens has since echoed this assessment, though she added that they purposely didn’t negate Bombadil’s existence in the story, which allows fans to add him to the films via their own head-canon to a certain degree.
What Role Will Tom Bombadil Play in The Rings of Power Season 2?
If Tom Bombadil wasn’t worth including in the adaptation of the story he’s most famous for, what makes him a worthy inclusion in the story of The Rings of Power, a series that adapts a story he is completely absent from? Speaking about this with Vanity Fair, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay explained that they felt like they had more freedom to include Bombadil in this story simply because a streaming series is a longer format than a feature film, which allows for seemingly inconsequential characters like Bombadil to truly shine.
As for how Bombadil will factor into the story, he won’t be found in his traditional home of the Old Forest, instead he will be residing in the lands of Rhûn, a more baren land to the East. Supposedly, the character has journeyed there to investigate the various disruptions of nature that have been inflicted upon the land. It will be in the land of Rhûn that some of the series’ protagonists, primarily The Stranger, played by Daniel Weyman, will encounter the old jolly fellow with boots of yellow. While Payne and McKay were somewhat tight-lipped about how exactly Bombadil will impact the story, they did say that he brings some much-needed brightness to an otherwise much darker sophomore season.
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“Really, Tom is sort of a curiosity within [the villain-oriented structure of Season 2] because while it is darker, Tom Bombadil is singing and saying lines that could be nursery rhymes from children’s poems,” Payne said. “So he sort of defies the tonal shift of the rest of the season and is a real point of light amidst an otherwise sea of darkness.”
It’s also important to note that Payne and McKay said they were very careful with their depiction of Bombadil in the series, as they didn’t want to broaden the character’s backstory too much beyond the little we know from Tolkien’s writing. Given that Bombadil is one of the most mysterious characters in any of Tolkien’s stories, it seems likely that the show will give very few details about where exactly he came from and what power he has. Whatever road they go down with the character, the fact remains that Tom Bombadil will finally make it into a live-action Lord of the Rings adaptation, which is reason enough for celebration. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is streaming on Prime Video, with Season 2 heading to the streaming service on August 29.
