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September 14, 2025 4 mins
Gandalf Biography Flash a weekly Biography.

Hey folks, Marc Ellery here, and if you thought Gandalf was just some dusty wizard who only pops out at times of great narrative convenience, you have not been following the whirlwind of Middle-earth news in the last few days. So, let’s hit you with every story, leak, and digital murmur about the great grey beard himself for this episode of Gandalf Biography Flash.

First, picture me clapping a goblet against the mic, because as of this week, it is officially, unequivocally, almost hilariously confirmed: Gandalf is *back* on the big screen. Sir Ian McKellen himself—a man who’s played more wise mentors than my high school math teacher tried to claim on LinkedIn—told an audience at the For the Love of Fantasy convention that both Gandalf and Frodo will have significant roles in the new film, The Hunt for Gollum. His words, spoken with the kind of wink that says legal probably can’t stop him: “There’s a character in the movie called Frodo, and there’s another character called Gandalf. Apart from that, my lips are sealed.” I’ll bet my second breakfast that’s more than a cameo, folks. This is the first new live-action Lord of the Rings film since 2014’s Hobbit trilogy wrapped, and Andy Serkis, our favorite digital Smeagol, is directing. That’s right, Gollum himself at the helm, which means at minimum we’ll get the weirdest director’s commentary of all time. Peter Jackson is just lurking as a producer, presumably like a Tolkienian Tom Bombadil, singing nonsense and fixing everything we love behind the scenes. According to Entertainment Weekly and AOL, things kick off filming in May, so fingers crossed they let Gandalf keep his pipe on set, or we riot.

Now, if you were online yesterday, you probably saw #GandalfReturns trending on X, complete with memes of Ian McKellen rolling up to New Zealand in a bathrobe “direct from Valinor.” Elijah Wood, the Frodo formerly known as the once and future Hobbit, has signaled on JoBlo and social media that he’s “beyond keen” to come back, referencing jumping into Middle-earth again like it’s a group chat he’s just been waiting to revive. Do not ask me about Legolas and Aragorn yet—Orlando Bloom’s doing the usual cryptic “Who, me?” when it comes to returning, but let’s be real, if anyone can convince him, it’s Middle-earth Twitter and a big enough paycheck.

Not to be outdone, the memes have already started casting their predictions—someone’s currently Photoshopping Gandalf surfing on the back of a CGI eagle over Mordor, which, frankly, is more canon-adjacent than the Hobbit trilogy’s barrel scene.

TLDR: If Gandalf’s long career as everyone’s dad, camp counselor, and cosmic enabler needed a fresh chapter, this is it. Sir Ian’s return isn’t just a fan-service cameo, it’s the return of the core mythos to the big screen. And yes, it’s fictional—but, folks, so are Mondays and my exercise routine.

That is your Gandalf Biography Flash for today. If you want to stay ahead of every wizarding development—and let’s face it, who doesn’t want a little more Gandalf in their life—hit subscribe, never miss an update, and swing by with a search for “Biography Flash” for more almost-too-thorough biographies. Thanks for listening, and remember: when in doubt, always follow your nose… or you know, refresh your news feed.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey, folks, mark ellery here. And if you thought Gandolf
was just some dusty wizard who only pops out at
times of great narrative convenience, you have not been following
the whirlwind of Middle Earth news in the last few days.
So let's hit you with every story leak and digital
murmur about the Great gray Beard himself. For this episode
of Gandalf Biography. Flash first picture me clapping a goblet

(00:32):
against the mic, because as of this week, it is officially, unequivocally,
almost hilariously confirmed Gandolf is back on the big screen.

(01:00):
So Ian McKellan, himself, a man who's played more wise
mentors than my high school math teacher tried to claim
on LinkedIn, told an audience at the For the Love
of Fantasy convention that both Gandolf and Frodo will have
significant roles in the new Dick film The Hunt for Gollum.

(01:33):
His words spoken with the kind of wink that says
legal probably can't stop him. There's a character in the
movie called Frodo, and there's another character called Gandolf. Apart
from that, my lips are sealed. I'll bet my second
breakfast that's more than a cameo, folks. This is the
first new live action Lord of the Rings film since
twenty fourteen's Hobbit Trilogy Rapped, and Andy serkis our favorite

(01:56):
digital Smeiegele is directing. That's right, Gallum at the Helm,
which means at minimum will get the weirdest director's commentary
of all time. Peter Jackson is just lurking as a producer,
presumably like a Tolkenyan Tom bombdilly singing nonsense and fixing

(02:16):
everything we love behind the scenes. According to Entertainment Weekly,
in aol things kick off filming in May, so fingers
crossed they let Gandalf keep his pipe on set or
we riot now. If you were online yesterday, you probably
saw number Gandalf re turns trending on x complete with
memes of Ian McKellen rolling up to New Zealand in

(02:38):
a bathrobe direct from Valeno. Elijah Wood, the Frodo, formerly
known as the once in Future Hobbit, has signaled on
Joe Blow and social media that he's beyond keen to
come back, referencing jumping into Metal Earth again like it's
a group chat. He's just been waiting to revive. Do
not ask me about legalss and Aragorn. Yet Orlando Bloom's
doing the usual cryptic cryptic who me when it comes

(03:00):
to returning, But let's be real, if anyone can convince him,
it's Middle Earth twere and a big enough paycheck not
to be outdone, The memes have already started casting their predictions.
Someone's currently photoshopping Gandolf surfing on the back of a

(03:21):
CGI eagle over Mordor, which frankly is more canon adjacent
than the Hobbit trilogy's barrel scene TLDR. If Gandolf's long
career as everyone's dad, camp counselor and cosmic enabler needed
a fresh chapter, this is it. Sir Ian's return isn't
just a fan service cameo. It's the return of the

(03:42):
core mythos to the big screen. And yes it's fictional
butt folks, so are Monday's and my exercise routine. That
is your Gandalf biography flash for today. If you want
to stay ahead of every wizarding development, and let's face
who doesn't want a little more Gandolf in their life?

(04:03):
Hit subscribe, never miss an update, and swing by with
a search for biography flash for more. Almost two thorough biographies.
Thanks for listening and remember when in doubt, always follow
your nose or you know, refresh your newsfeed. And that
is it for today. Make sure you hit the subscribe

(04:27):
button and never miss an update on Gandalf. Thanks for listening.
This has been a quiet please production quiet, Please dot
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