Popverse's top stories

• Who shot first, Han or Greedo? Harrison Ford finally answers the longtime Star Wars debate (and it’s pretty much what you expect)
• Yellowstone inspired a cinematic universe, but Taylor Sheridan can't stand Marvel Studios' storytelling: "You know nothing."
• When Kentarou Miura began Berserk, he did so with one fear. That fear took six years to get over

Sometimes, an actor feels like they've been born to play a role. Such is the case with Anya Taylor-Joy, who was recently announced to be joining the next film in The Lord of the Rings cinematic saga, The Hunt for Gollum. And while fans of Taylor-Joy's other forays into genre storytelling will no doubt be excited to see her on the big screen, the casting might be even more of a personal victory for the Furiosa star.

At least, that's what we gather from the interview Taylor-Joy recently did with Rotten Tomatoes, posted to the site's social media July 1. The way the actor puts it, "I feel like I've been an elf my whole life, so it feels very validating to go and actually be able to do it as a job."

Taylor-Joy's casting was announced just a few weeks back by Variety, who gave the name of her character as 'Seren.' Don't go flipping through your copies of The Silmarillion just yet, Tolkien fans, it appears that Taylor-Joy's character is a new invention for the film, although she will be deeply connected to a Tolkien mainstay - that is, Lee Pace's King Thranduil. 

Described as a "trusted and lethal agent of King Thranduil," Seren is one of the Sindar Elves of the Woodland Realm, similar to Legolas or, from The Hobbit films, Tauriel played by Evangeline Lilly (and yes, I can feel your temper rising). Obviously there's a lot of variety in the personalities of these elves, so we'll just have to wait and see what Taylor-Joy does with the character to get a better idea of who she'll be.

At least we know she'll be having fun.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum sneaks into theaters December 17, 2027.

Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you:

• Lord of the Rings reading guide 
• Lord of the Rings watch guide
• The Lord of the Rings reunion panel you can watch 
• The OG Hobbit actors stay in touch every day on a groupchat 
• The true message of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to Gimli himself - John Rhys-Davies.