Lord of the Rings movie adds Anya Taylor-Joy as brand-new character

Anya Taylor-Joy is joining the cast of the next The Lord of the Rings film, Warner Bros. announced on Monday.

She’ll play Seren, a brand-new character originated for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. She’s an elf who’s described as “a trusted and lethal agent of King Thranduil” (via Variety). Lee Pace portrayed Thranduil in The Hobbit trilogy, and he’ll reprise his role The Hunt for Gollum.

Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, will direct the upcoming film. It’s seemingly based on a brief passage in The Fellowship of the Ring when Aragorn recounted his search for Gollum and his seven-week journey to bring the ring-obsessed hobbit to Thranduil as a prisoner.

As Taylor-Joy’s Seren is a brand-new character, it’s not immediately clear how she’ll fit in to the story. She could potentially accompany Aragorn on his search for Gollum. Based on the “lethal” part of her character description, here’s to hoping she gets some fun skirmishes to fight her way through.

Unlike Pace, previous Aragorn actor Viggo Mortensen will not be returning to the role. Instead, Jamie Dornan will take over as Aragorn. Recently, Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood were confirmed to reprise their roles as the wizard Gandalf and Hobbit Frodo Baggins, respectively, in the film. Kate Winslet was previously revealed to star in the film, and she’ll be playing the character Marigol. Former Legolas actor Orlando Bloom has not yet been confirmed for the film.

Taylor-Joy has become one of Hollywood’s biggest young actors in recent years. She’s been in horror and thriller movies like The Witch, Split, and The Menu, and has even taken a turn for the superheroics in New Mutants. Recently, she’s starred as Princess Peach in both Mario movies as well as Furiosa in the latest Mad Max entry.

Serkis set a new standard for motion capture performances with his portrayal of the pitiful, ring-obsessed Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The actor went on to use those same skills in Jackson’s version of King Kong in 2005, and the Planet of the Apes reboot that kicked off in 2011. He’s also used his extensive knowledge of CGI to direct Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle and Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

The Hunt for Gollum will likely cover the time between Bilbo’s 111th birthday and Gandalf’s return to the Shire, covered in the first chapters of Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring but cut from the 2001 film. Gandalf enlisted Aragorn to track down Gollum so he could learn where Bilbo’s ring came from and whether it was actually the One Ring that Sauron was searching for.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will be released in theaters on Dec. 17, 2027.