Lord of the Rings movie fans may not have met him, but they have probably heard a lot about Tom Bombadil from book readers who complain about why he wasn’t in any of the films. Now Amazon’s LOTR: The Rings of Power is set to bring Bombadil to live-action, and we have our first look at him (played by Rory Kinnear) meeting the Stranger a.k.a. Gandalf (played by Daniel Weyman). Check this out:
Rory Kinnear was a #LOTR novice before signing on to play Tom Bombadil in ‘The Rings of Power.’
“I was honest—I hadn’t read it,” he tells VF. But, he “knew instantly then that it had a cultural heft to it that I was going to have to be sensitive to.” https://t.co/DiieKd1UCA
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) May 29, 2024
If you’ve read the books, you’ll know that Bombadil is a character that shows up early in the story, right between Frodo and Sam leave for the Shire, and them arriving in Bree. He’s admittedly a very kooky, whimsical character, and a lot of people agreed that he would kind of mess up the tone of the entire story and theyre happy that he was removed from the films.
Talking to Vanity Fair, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have explained why they think Bombadil is often avoided in LOTR adaptations. Payne explains:
“There’s a reason why he hasn’t been in prior adaptations, because in some ways he’s sort of an anti-dramatic character… He’s not a character who has a particularly strong agenda. He observes drama, but largely doesn’t participate in it. In The Fellowship of the Ring, the characters kind of just go there and hang out for a while, and Tom drops some knowledge on them.”
“Knowledge that’s not particularly relevant to anything that they’re doing or about to do,” adds McKay.
For Rings of Power though, it does look like we’re going to be meeting Bombadil before he settles near the Shire, and it looks like his story is going to be closely tied to the arrival of Gandalf (and the rest of the wizards/maiar) and settling of the harfoots (harfeet?).
With so many bashing Rings of Power for not sticking to the source material, I think it’s great that they managed to bring in someone as kooky as Tom Bombadil. I don’t expect him to sing any silly songs, but I’m sure the series could find a way to make the most of his character.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set to return to Amazon Prime Video on Aug. 29.
