Summary

• Viggo Mortensen would be older than Ian McKellen was when he played Gandalf if he appears in the new Lord of the Rings movie.
• Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will feature director Andy Serkis returning as Gollum, which could mean other characters will return.
• Mortensen's age may complicate Aragorn's appearance, but he would have to play the role in order to maintain character continuity.

If Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum features Viggo Mortensen reprising his original role as Aragorn, he will be older than Ian McKellen when he originally played Gandalf. Although he had been working since the mid-1980s, Mortensen had his breakout role when he brought the iconic character Aragorn to life in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, which premiered between 2001 and 2003. Since then, he has appeared in a variety of major projects including three titles that earned him Oscar nominations, namely 2007's Eastern Promises, 2016's Captain Fantastic, and 2018's Green Book.

The upcoming Lord of the Rings movie The Hunt for Gollum is set to be a new live-action installment in the iconic fantasy franchise featuring returning star Andy Serkis appearing as Gollum in addition to directing the movie. So far, no details have been revealed about the plot of the movie beyond the implications of the title. However, because Gollum's presence indicates that the movie takes place during a specific epoch in the timeline of Middle-earth, this means that other actors, including Mortensen, could potentially reprise their original roles.

How Old Viggo Mortensen Will Be When 2026's Lord Of The Rings Movie Comes Out

Viggo Mortensen Was Born On October 20, 1958

If the movie's release stays true to the current plan, Viggo Mortensen will be either 67 or 68 when The Hunt for Gollum premieres. In comparison, when the original Lord of the Rings movies premiered, he was 43, 44, and 45. All three movies were shot concurrently between 1999 and 2000, making him 40 when production kicked off and 42 when it ended. Overall, this makes 43 his oldest onscreen age as Aragorn, as he has not reprised his role since the release of The Return of the King in 2003.

Production on The Lord of the Rings kicked off on October 11, just days before Mortensen's 41st birthday.

Even if production on The Hunt for Gollum began right away, should Mortensen appear, he would be older than Ian McKellen was when he played the ancient wizard Gandalf in the original trilogy. McKellen, who was born on May 25, 1939, was 60 when production began and 61 when it ended, and Mortensen is already 65 at the time of writing. While this is still younger than McKellen's age when principal photography began on the Hobbit prequel trilogy in 2011, this makes Mortensen older than McKellen was when he shot Gandalf's latest moments in the Lord of the Rings timeline.

An Older Aragorn Wouldn't Work For 2026's Lord Of The Rings Movie

The Lord Of The Rings Timeline Limits When The Hunt For Gollum Will Take Place

Should Aragorn appear in Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, Mortensen's age wouldn't work for the character. Although the timeline of the new movie has not been officially announced, there are only a limited amount of periods in Middle-earth history in which the movie can take place. Because Gollum dies during the events of The Return of the King, it seems most likely that the movie will be a prequel set between the events of The Hobbit and the original trilogy, making Aragorn even younger than he was in the original movie, 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring.

Mortensen's real-life age would complicate the character's appearance onscreen...

His increased age wasn't an issue for McKellen when he reprised the role of Gandalf in the Hobbit prequel movies, as he had already been made up to look older than 60 in the original trilogy. However, Aragorn's age makes Mortensen's appearance in the role particularly complicated. The character, who has Dúnedain heritage and thus a slightly extended life span, was already 87 years old during the timeline of the original trilogy. Because of Aragorn's delayed aging process, Mortensen's real-life age would complicate the character's appearance onscreen.

The Hunt For Gollum Can't Recast Aragorn - Even If Mortensen's Age Creates A Plot Hole

Nobody But Viggo Mortensen Can Play Aragorn

Even though his age would pose an issue for Aragorn's appearance in the movie, Viggo Mortensen would have to be the one to play the role in The Hunt for Gollum no matter what. The fact that Serkis is reprising the role of Gollum means that the movie is inextricably linked to the timeline of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. Because of this, any legacy characters returning to the franchise should naturally be played by the original actors wherever possible, especially considering how iconic Mortensen's turn in the role proved to be.

Serkis previously appeared onscreen as Gollum in 2002's The Two Towers, 2003's The Return of the King, and 2012's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Mortensen would also have to be the one to play Aragorn because of the character's aging process. Although the franchise has cast younger versions of the characters Bilbo Baggins, Galadriel, and Elrond in The Hobbit and the Prime Video series The Rings of Power, those prequels took place a significant number of years before the original trilogy, justifying the recasting even for the immortal characters. However, the timeline required by Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum would imply that any younger actor had rapidly aged to look like Mortensen in an impossibly brief time.