The main cast of Andy Serkis’ upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum was announced back in April, consisting of fan-favorites like Sir Ian McKellen, Lee Pace, and Elijah Wood, as well as new additions like Kate Winslet, Jamie Dornan, and Leo Woodall. However, they are not the only actors who will be venturing to Middle-earth in 2027. Warner Bros. recently revealed that Queen’s Gambit and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga star Anya Taylor-Joy has been cast in The Hunt for Gollum.
Taylor-Joy’s involvement had previously been rumored, with fans speculating that she could take over the role of Arwen Undómiel from Liv Tyler, but Warner Bros. confirmed that she will instead portray an original character named Seren. Though little is known about the part that Seren will play in The Hunt for Gollum, she seems to be replacing a divisive character from Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy: Tauriel, as portrayed by Evangeline Lilly.
Tauriel preparing to shoot her bow in The Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugImage via New Line Cinema / Courtesy the Everett Collection
Warner Bros. shared a brief video of Seren on social media, showing a hooded figure wielding a bow and arrow, but she was obscured by shadows and mist. Luckily, Variety was able to shed some more light on the character, describing her as “a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm” who will serve as “a trusted and lethal agent of King Thranduil.”
CBR Exclusive · Quiz WHICH LORD OF THE RINGS CHARACTER ARE YOU? One Quiz to Find Them All From the rolling hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Twenty questions stand between you and the truth. Answer honestly. The shadow does not lie.
Frodo
Samwise
Aragorn
Gandalf
Gollum
01
You are asked to carry a terrible burden that no one else can bear. What do you do? The first step into darkness reveals everything.
02
Your closest companion is walking into grave danger. You: Loyalty is forged in the fires of the hardest moments.
03
You possess knowledge that could change the fate of many. You: What we do with knowledge shapes the world.
04
How do you make important decisions? A character’s choices reveal their deepest nature.
05
You are offered something you deeply desire — at a moral cost. You: Temptation is the test every soul must face alone.
06
How do you see yourself in the world? Self-knowledge is the beginning of all true power.
07
When darkness closes in, your instinct is to: Crisis strips away pretense and reveals the true self.
08
Your greatest personal flaw is: Even the wisest are not without shadow.
09
Others look to you for guidance in a desperate moment. You: How we lead in darkness defines us entirely.
10
What drives you more than anything else? The heart’s true desire is the root of all journeys.
11
You have reached your lowest point. The road ahead seems impossible. You: The darkest hour is the truest test of character.
12
You discover a great power that could be used for good — in the right hands. You: The wise know that the road to ruin is paved with good intentions.
13
What do you fear most? Our deepest fears map the shape of our souls.
14
Those who meet you for the first time would say: First impressions in Middle-earth carry great weight.
15
Where do you feel most yourself? A soul’s true home reveals its deepest nature.
16
What do you believe about hope? In the darkest ages, hope is the most radical act.
17
When your journey is over, what do you want to leave behind? The end of a tale gives meaning to all that came before.
18
You must give up something precious to save others. You: Sacrifice is the truest measure of what we value.
19
What does friendship mean to you? In Middle-earth, the bonds between souls are the greatest magic of all.
20
At the end of all things, when everything is on the line, you: This is the question that decides everything.
THE SHADOW KNOWS YOUR HEART YOUR MIDDLE-EARTH SOUL
Your scores are shown below. The character with the highest number is your match. Read their description to discover which soul of Middle-earth the darkness chose for you.
Frodo
Samwise
Aragorn
Gandalf
Gollum
You carry more than anyone knows, and you carry it quietly. You did not choose your burden — but you accepted it when no one else would, and you bore it further than anyone thought possible. Your courage is not the loud kind. It is the kind that keeps moving when every step costs something. Gentle, introspective, and tested to the very edge of yourself.
Steadfast, warm, and quietly extraordinary. You are not driven by glory or destiny — you are driven by love, plain and simple. Your loyalty is absolute, your heart is vast, and your courage runs deeper than anyone who underestimates you will ever expect. You show up for the people you love without being asked, without keeping score, without ever wavering. The world needs more of you.
You have long walked in the shadows of a destiny you were not sure you deserved. Duty-bound, weathered by experience, and deeply principled — you lead not because you sought it, but because others needed you to. You carry old burdens with quiet dignity, and when the moment finally demands everything from you, you do not flinch. The crown was always yours. You simply had to be ready for it.
Ancient, perceptive, and capable of both great warmth and terrible wrath. You see the shape of things others cannot, and you guide more than you command — nudging, trusting, occasionally arriving precisely when you mean to. You have known grief and persisted through it. Your wisdom is hard-won and your faith in others, even when they falter, is your greatest strength and your most defining quality.
You are a soul divided — pulled between who you once were and what you have become. You have been shaped by loss, obsession, and a wound that never healed. What others see as your weakness was once your innocence. There is tragedy in you, and perhaps still a flicker of something salvageable. You are a reminder that the road to darkness is walked one small compromise at a time.
Seren is not a character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings novel, nor does her name come from any of the author’s Elvish languages. It may have been inspired by the Sindarin word sereg, meaning “blood,” or seron, meaning “lover.” However, Seren is also a real-world Welsh name meaning “star.”
In the chapter “The Shadow of the Past” from The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf explained that he and Aragorn were aided in their search for Gollum by the Elves of the Woodland Realm: “The Wood-elves tracked him first, an easy task for them, for his trail was still fresh then.” In the film, Seren will likely be one of these Elves.
From the few details revealed thus far, Seren is extremely reminiscent of Tauriel, who debuted in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and returned in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Like Seren, Tauriel was an Elven archer from the Woodland Realm who did not originate in Tolkien’s writings, and she held a similarly high-ranking position as the captain of Thranduil’s guards. The only notable difference is that Tauriel was a Silvan Elf rather than a Sindar Elf like Thranduil and Legolas, causing the Elven-king to view her as inferior.
Tauriel’s Role in The Hobbit Trilogy Was Heavily Criticized By Tolkien Fans
Tauriel proved controversial among viewers of The Hobbit, and not just because she was a deviation from the novel. Tauriel was part of a love triangle with Legolas and Kíli. Many viewed this as an unnecessary subplot meant to pad the runtime, because the source material was completely devoid of romance. Further, an Elf falling in love with a Dwarf had no basis in Tolkien’s lore, and it undercut the significance of Legolas and Gimli overcoming the animosity between their cultures in The Lord of the Rings.
Since Tauriel’s inclusion in The Hobbit was so unpopular, the implementation of a similar character in The Hunt for Gollum came as a surprise to fans, but that may be exactly the point. Serkis played Gollum in the first The Hobbit film and served as second unit director on all three installments, so he is intimately familiar with the successes and flaws of the trilogy.
Seren could be his attempt at redeeming the concept of Tauriel by learning from The Hobbit‘s mistakes and creating an original character whom fans will more readily accept. To avoid the backlash that Tauriel received, Serkis may want to avoid involving Seren in a romantic storyline, but such a thing could actually serve to strengthen The Hunt for Gollum‘s narrative by mirroring Aragorn’s relationship with Arwen.
Perhaps Aragorn’s fellow Ranger of the North, Halvard, will fall in love with Seren, and their relationship will end in disaster. This would give Aragorn yet another reason to fear that his love for Arwen was doomed, hence his belief that she should travel to the Undying Lands without him. Seren’s introduction in The Hunt for Gollum is a major risk, but if the character is handled well, the film could achieve what The Hobbit trilogy set out to over a decade ago.
Video Game(s)
LEGO Lord of the Rings, The Lord of the Rings Online, The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, The Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle-Earth, The Lord of The Rings: Battle For Middle-Earth 2, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
First Film
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Cast
Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Bean, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Miranda Otto, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Martin Freeman, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charlie Vickers, Richard Armitage
