The War Of The Rohirrim Teases Footage and Shows Off Motion Poster at NYCC

Movies

This past weekend, Warner Bros. showcased snippets of footage and a motion poster from the upcoming The War of Rohirrim at New York Comic-Con on Friday at the Javits Center conference room. The panel was moderated by “super-fan” and TV host of Late Night with Stephen Colbert, Colbert himself. Personally, anytime the term “super-fan” is associated with a supposed “fan” makes me wince, for we all know what that truly means…

Before The War of the Ring, there was The War of The Rohirrim. #LOTR: The War of The Rohirrim – only in theaters December 13. pic.twitter.com/0Rdw6sDv9i

— Warner Bros. Pictures (@wbpictures) October 18, 2024

The rest of the panel included producer and Oscar winner Philippa Boyens and actor Brian Cox, who voices King Helm Hammerhand. During the panel, Boyens stated there was always a plan for “getting back to Middle-earth.” (Via Deadline):

“They said what about anime, and this story sprang to mind immediately; I had a gut feeling that Rohirrim would work. I think we have tried to be faithful,” Boyens added. “We never change anything lightly, and when we add, we try to draw from sources that feel authentic to the world… It is never not a gift to go back into that incredible imagination of Professor Tolkien.”

We never change anything lightly. It is certainly not a light change when an unnamed daughter in a story in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings is suddenly turned into the main character of the tale about how the fortress Helm’s Deep received its name. The animated feature, which is directed by Kenji Kamiyama, is set 183 years before the events of The Hobbit. 

A sudden attack by a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord, Wulf, who is seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces King Helm and the Rohirrim to make their last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg – that, as mentioned earlier, will later become known as Helm’s Deep. Hera, the made-up name of Helm’s daughter, must lead the resistance. Hammerhand must also have his daughter wed the notorious Freca’s son, which, as Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings states: 

“To one of these councils Freca rode with many men, and he asked the hand of Helm’s daughter for his son Wulf. But Helm said: “You have grown big since you were last here; but it is mostly fat, I guess”; and men laughed at that for Freca was wide of belt. 

Then Freca fell in a rage and reviled the king, and said this at the last: “Old kings that refuse a proffered staff may fall on their knees.” Helm answered: “Come! The marriage of your son is a trifle. Let Helm and Freca deal with it later. Meanwhile the king and his council have matters of moment to consider.” 

It then describes how Helm and Freca, both men only armed with their bare fists, have a brawl in which the former smites Freca with such a blow that it later causes him to perish. 

Colbert then introduced a longer reel with multiple clips from the film and voice-over from Miranda Otto as Eówyn once again. The first sequence shows the army encampment besieged by a winter storm and an unknown creature killing off many of the Rohirrim soldiers. Rumors fly that this figure is the fallen king of Rohan, Helm himself, returned from the dead. Hera chases this elusive specter she believes is her father into the bowels of the keep, only to emerge on the opposite end of a cavern, facing a towering horned creature. 

It should also be stated, particularly with the picture of Helm standing atop the fallen in a winterscape holding a hammer, that this is inaccurate. The Long Winter that caused Rohan to lay under snow for five months (November to March 2758-9) caused much suffering and famine for both armies. In Helm’s Deep, there was a great hunger after Yule; being in despair and against the king’s wishes, his youngest son, Háma, led a group of men out but never returned. To quote the Appendix again: 

“Helm grew fierce and gaunt for famine and grief; and the dread of him alone was worth many men in the defense of the Burg. He would go out by himself, clad in white, and stalk like a snow-troll into the camps of his enemies, and slay many men with his hands. It was believed that if he bore no weapon no weapon would bite on him.”

So, in truth, the king was not dead, nor did anyone believe him to be dead in the true lore. Boyens’ earlier statement on never making changes lightly is partly hypocritical. Yes, they actually did appear to take time and really make the world look and feel like Middle-earth for this animated feature, and supposedly trustworthy people are at the helm of this project. However, this is starting to feel like the disaster that is Rings of Power—well, not of the same caliber of total desecration, of course, but by the looks of it, The War of the Rohirrim will have a Tauriel 2.0 in Hera, in that both of these characters were created by the producers and writers, not the Professor himself. While in comparison, The Hobbit films are far superior to Amazon’s failure of a Tolkien adaptation, it feels almost like a slap in the face that the compelling true story of Helm and his sons and how the fortress Hornburg was bequeathed its new name would not be crafted with more care like the previous Lord of the Rings film trilogy was by the very same people. 

The War of the Rohirrim opens on December 13. This is the second animated feature based on The Lord of the Rings after the Ralph Bakshi-directed 1978 title.

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