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In what might be the height of high fantasy irony, the King is Not Returning.

That is, the King we have come to know and love as the cinematic Aragorn - AKA Viggo Mortensen - who was recently announced to not be returning to the big screen Middle-Earth for Andy Serkis's The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. But here's the thing - the next live-action venture into J.R.R. Tolkien's world might not be completely devoid of familiar royal faces, as several factors point toward the return of Lee Pace's Thranduil.

The first of those factors is an interview that The Hunt for Gollum's screenwriter and producer, Phillipa Boyens, did with Tolkienista and YouTuber Nerd of the Rings all the way back in December of 2024. In a discussion to promote her then-new project The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, OG Lord of the Rings screenwriter Boyens broke off to give her interviewer a peek into what to expect from The Hunt for Gollum.

"I'll give you a tease," said Boyens, "Had lunch with an elf lord the other day. [...] I'm not saying which elf lord."

While Boyens never confirmed that the "elf lord" she dined with was Pace, the fact that both she and the Pushing Daisies star were both in London at the time of the enigmatic lunch raises more than a casual eyebrow (as pointed out by redditor Chen_Geller, Pace was filming The Running Man at the time). But what makes us tilt even harder toward Pace's Eleven King, who Tolkien fans know as the father of Legolas, is that Boyens confirmed the mystery character would "naturally fall into that story."

In Tolkien's Fellowship of the Rings, the story of what will become the cinematic Hunt for Gollum is retold at the iconic Council of Elrond. Here's a portion of that text - just listen to Aragorn talk about how his search for the once ring-bearer ended:

"I caught him, Gollum," recounts Isildur's heir, "He was covered with green slime. He will never love me. I fear; for he bit me, and I was not gentle. Nothing more did I ever get from his mouth than the marks of his teeth. I deemed it the worst part of all my journey, the road back, watching him day and night, making him walk before me with a halter on his neck, gagged, until he was tamed by lack of drink and food, driving him ever towards Mirkwood. I brought him there at last and gave him to the Elves, for we had agreed that this should be done; and I was glad to be rid of his company, for he stank."

Those Mirkwood Elves, in case you haven't already guessed, were ruled by King Thranduil, as you might know from seeing any of the three Hobbit films. Though fans' reception of those movies was... mixed, let's say, Pace's Thranduil was almost universally beloved. And if we were putting down bets, they won't be the last time we see him.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is set to hit 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.