Tom Bombadil to Make On-Screen Debut in THE RINGS OF POWER

Published: May 31, 2024

Tom Bombadil to Make On-Screen Debut in THE RINGS OF POWER

By Movieguide® Contributor

Tom Bombadil is set to make his long-awaited on-screen debut in Amazon’s hit series, THE RINGS OF POWER.

Per Vanity Fair, “The mystical character is one of the more offbeat figures in J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ saga, a woodland-dwelling man with an ethereal presence and a penchant for nonsense songs and brightly colored clothes, who helps rescue the hobbits from peril early in the first book, ‘The Fellowship of the Ring.‘”

Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay explained to Vanity Fair why Bombadil hasn’t been seen in other adaptations of Tolkien’s beloved books.

“There’s a reason why he hasn’t been in prior adaptations, because in some ways he’s sort of an anti-dramatic character,” Payne said. “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,” McKay added.

Tolkien even explained why he “kept Bombadil in the story even though he didn’t have a clear purpose plotwise.”

In “The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien,” he wrote, “Tom Bombadil is not an important person—to the narrative. I suppose he has some importance as a ‘comment.’ I mean, I do not really write like that…He represents something that I feel important, though I would not be prepared to analyze the feeling precisely.”

However, Payne and McKay see Bombadil’s characters as mysterious and passive, which makes him interesting.

“He has no clear dramatic function that would justify his inclusion in a really great movie adaptation. He’s whimsical and magical, and almost verging on silly. But also has the wisdom of the ages and the music of the spheres and deep emotional wells of ancient history and myth, and his conception and function are tied to Norse myths and have deep roots in European fairy tale,” McKay explained. “So weirdly, he’s kind of the most ‘The Lord of the Rings’ thing in ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ and also the first thing you would cut if you were adapting it as a film. But we have the advantage of a television show, and hence we are going to find a way to tap into that.”

Bombadil will be played by Rory Kinnear. In this season, he’s “given a second home ‘on the outskirts of a region called Rhûn,'” per Deseret News.

RINGS OF POWER dropped its Season 2 trailer earlier this month, teasing what fans can expect from the series.

“The debut teaser trailer takes viewers on an action-packed journey back to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Second Age, and shows the ascending evil presence of Sauron as he continues his vengeful quest for complete power. Showcasing the cinematic splendor that the series is known for, and heralding the return of many fan favorite characters, including Galadriel, Elrond, Prince Durin IV, Arondir, and Celebrimbor, this first-look also reveals the much-anticipated creation of more Rings,” a press release announced.

RINGS OF POWER Season 1, Episode 8 earned a Teddy Bear Award®, as Movieguide® praised its “Very strong allegorical Proto-Christian, redemptive worldview of Good versus Demonic Evil.”

Movieguide® previously reported on the “record-high viewership” after THE RINGS OF POWER premiere:

Amazon claimed that the debut of their new series, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, brought in 25 million viewers worldwide on Sept. 2, Amazon Prime’s most successful premiere to date.

“It is somehow fitting that [J.R.R.] Tolkien’s stories — among the most popular of all time, and what many consider to be the true origin of the fantasy genre — have led us to this proud moment,” Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said in a statement. “I am so grateful to the Tolkien Estate — and to our showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, executive producer Lindsey Weber, cast and crew — for their tireless collaborative efforts and boundless creative energy. And it is the tens of millions of fans watching — clearly as passionate about Middle-earth as we are — who are our true measure of success.”