After six movies across 13 years and an Oscar nomination for playing the role, you’d think Sir Ian McKellen would be done playing Gandalf from the LORD OF THE RINGS series. At the very least he must be okay with passing on the role to someone else, right? Turns out the veteran thespian believes he has some more spellcasting left in him, and would probably say yes if asked to return to the world of Middle-earth.
While on the GRAHAM NORTON SHOW (via EW), McKellen was asked by the host if he was okay with Gandalf being played by another actor. This is given the fact that Amazon recently made a deal with the Tolkien estate to produce a new series of LORD OF THE RING TV shows, and McKellen responded by asking why they would need to replace him when he is still able to play the role himself:
What do you mean, another Gandalf? I haven’t said yes because I haven’t been asked. But are you suggesting that someone else is going to play it? Gandalf is over 7000 years old, so I’m not too old.
McKellen may have just been jesting, but the actor has played the role so many times it’s not out of the question to assume he would come back for more. The development of the show is still in its early stages, so we don’t know the specifics, other than it will be a prequel to THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING.
I don’t know if the Amazon series will adapt the LORD OF THE RINGS stories in the same way Peter Jackson did for the movies, or if they will adapt other stories from the Tolkien world and just use LOTR as a banner. If it really does act as a prequel to FELLOWSHIP there may be room for Gandalf, and if that’s the case why not have McKellen return? He’s the best that will probably ever do it, so just keep letting him do it! At this point, I wouldn't trust anyone else to fight off a Balrog.