The Rings Of Power Reveals First Look At Lord Of The Rings' Weirdest Character

Well, that's one way to resolve a years-long conspiracy theory among the weirdest and nerdiest of fans. The creative team behind "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" is apparently taking no chances in the months leading up to season 2 of the Prime Video series, unwilling to let leaks or set photos ruin the biggest surprise in decades of Middle-earth lore. Instead, the fine folks over at Vanity Fair were given an exclusive first look at the burning question at the forefront of all our minds: Will the bizarre character known as Tom Bombadil, whose boots are yellow and is famously a merry fellow, appear in the streaming show? 

The answer to that little riddle is now confirmed to be a resounding yes. After all the biggest and most popular adaptations of author J.R.R. Tolkien's work to this point went out of their way to avoid mentioning a single word about the oddest and most bizarre character in the entire legendarium (and understandably so), "The Rings of Power" season 2 will now have the honor of introducing this little enigma of a person to general audiences. According to showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, the previously-reported casting of Rory Kinnear (known for his appearances in the Daniel Craig "Bond" movies, "Penny Dreadful," and recently Alex Garland's "Men") was actually for the ancient and unfathomably powerful character of ol' Tom himself.

But wait! Didn't he only ever appear in the canon during the events of "The Fellowship of the Ring," giving lost Hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin a helping hand when they encountered danger on the outskirts of the Shire? Well, here's how he'll fit into the much older world of "The Rings of Power," set thousands of years before the original trilogy during the Second Age.

Behold! Feast your eyes on the most unexpected and weirdly thrilling adaptation of a classic Tolkien character since the extended edition release of "The Return of the King" restored the nasty-looking Mouth of Sauron in one scene late in the film. 

The inclusion of Tom Bombadil in "The Rings of Power," however, has been designed to be much more than mere fan service. Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay had their work cut out for them, poring over their copies of "The Fellowship of the Ring" to accurately reflect the character's flamboyant appearance, his vaguely-teased backstory as a being who is possibly older than Middle-earth itself, and his purpose in the narrative — or, rather, his lack of one. As Payne told Vanity Fair:

"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."

Obviously, that sort of detour can work in a lengthy book, but much less so in a tightly-paced streaming series with precious little time to waste. Yet, according to McKay, that tone of impenetrable myth and legend surrounding the character also makes him "...the most 'Lord of the Rings' thing in 'Lord of the Rings,'" and so that provided a way in to their version of this story. The showrunners explain that he'll cross paths with the equally-as-mysterious Stranger (Daniel Weyman) in the desert lands of Rhûn. And that, of course, lends even more credence to the (possible) Gandalf reveal, too.

As season 1 of "The Rings of Power" proved, the creative team enjoyed quite a bit of artistic freedom to reinterpret the classic Tolkien material as they saw fit. That approach means that this younger version of Tom Bombadil will inevitably act slightly different than he does in the pages of "The Fellowship of the Ring," where he mostly just sings, dances, and annoys his way into the hearts of our favorite Hobbits rather than worry about the One Ring itself or their overarching conflict with the Dark Lord Sauron. The guy mostly just cares about nature, and who can blame him! 

His isolationist standing will change in a fairly noticeable way in season 2, according to Payne, even as his primary motivation does not. As he explains:

"When he finally crosses paths with the Stranger, you could say he has a desire to try to keep the destruction that has happened there from spreading to his beloved lands in the West. He nudges the Stranger along his journey, which he knows will eventually protect the larger natural world that he cares about. So I'd say our Tom Bombadil is slightly more interventionist than you see in the books, but only by 5% or 10%."

For those worried that the show will ditch Bombadil's silly and jarringly whimsical tone, however, fear not! Even as the season takes a darker turn, Payne describes their take on Bombadil as: "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." Will that manifest itself with nursery rhymes and poems and dancing? That remains to be seen.

Season 2 of "The Rings of Power" debuts on Prime Video August 29, 2024.