In December, The Lord of the Rings is set to ride back onto our screens in a big way. A brand new anime feature, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, will bring to life another fascinating chapter of Middle-earth’s history in an epically gorgeous fashion. This time, the iconic land of Rohan (and its many horses) will be at center as the hourglass turns back and takes fans to a time 183 years before the War of the Ring. While Frodo’s journey is one of the most famous Middle-earth adventures, Tolkien’s texts are rich with other stories that surprise, delight, and move their readers. And this fresh telling of Helm Hammerhand’s tale will surely do all three. But beyond that, this film, which brings together the minds behind the original The Lord of the Rings movies and some amazing fresh talent, will also be a lush feast for the eyes. When it comes to any anime creation, the look of the movie is a key facet to doing justice to its story. And this The Lord of the Rings movie’s animation delivers exactly what we’d hope for and more. And so, it’s our pleasure to exclusively reveal a brand new piece of art from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim—trust us, this is one awesome poster.
A New Look at the Art of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
You can take in the full glory of Rohan and the Rohirrim below.
Anime is the perfect vehicle for bringing The Lord of the Rings to life. After all, animation can often create fantastical scenes and glorious battles with much more ease and wonder than live-action. And looking at the art on this new The War of Rohirrim poster, it’s clear that we’re getting the full fantasy of Middle-earth in this cinematic outing. Even just this single still image grabs our imagination and immerses us in the wonder of Tolkien. And that says a lot about how enchanting the full film will be. The word “breathtaking” certainly comes strongly to mind.
At the center of this The Lord of the Rings story (and this new The War of Rohirrim poster) are the mighty King of Rohan Helm Hammerhand, the tale’s antagonist Wulf, and, of course, Helm’s previously unnamed daughter Héra. In a conversation with Gaia Wise, who voices Héra in the film, Nerdist learned that Héra looks to past Shieldmaidens of Rohan for inspiration in her journey. And, of course, she goes on to inspire future Shieldmaidens of Rohan like Éowyn with her own tale. In this The War of Rohirrim art, we see that gorgeous history and legacy come to life as Héra wields her shield with fierceness and might.
Flanking Héra and teasing her story influences ahead are her father Helm Hammerhand, whose might sees him towering over the rest, and her childhood friend turned adversary Wulf, whose face looms half in shadow and half in light. Héra and Wulf’s story could have gone very differently, but as always, in The Lord of the Rings‘ world, we are defined by the choices we make. And Wulf’s choices take him on a path that opposes Héra, literally, and the side of light, symbolically. Still, we appreciate the complexity and vulnerability in him already. Wulf is our villain, but he’s not without a light and humanity of his own.
The War of Rohirrim will breathe great life into all three of these characters from Tolkien’s appendices, and we know it will do so with great respect and to the benefit of those who love The Lord of the Rings‘ existing stories.
Of interest, Wulf is a Dunlending lord, a people also known as the Wildmen of Dunland. And we can already see how the art on this new The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim poster reflects the difference in the cultures of Rohan and Dunland. While the warriors of Rohan are dressed in more gleaming metals and orderly uniforms, Wulf’s appearance seems to draw on the wilds of nature. He dons fur and brings an air of greater disarray to the table. Beneath him, the Dunlendings fight with clubs and bone axes arranged in a throng. This juxtaposes sharply the crisp spears and shields of Rohan’s force.
Tolkien’s worldbuilding and intricacy when crafting his different cultures and races are what make his lore truly stand out from the rest. And so it is delightful that The War of the Rohirrim will take the time to display and explore the deep facets of Rohan, Dunland, and more in some novel ways. We see a truly inspiring level of detail in this new look at the film.
In addition to Héra, Helm Hammerhand, and Wulf, three other characters are featured on this The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim poster. They are Fréalaf, Haleth, and Hama. Haleth and Hama are Héra’s brothers and Helm Hammerhand’s sons from The Lord of the Rings lore. Fréalaf, meanwhile, is Helm Hammerand’s nephew and (spoilers) the tenth King of Rohan and the king who rules Rohan after reclaiming it from the Dunlendings’ invasion during Helm Hammerhand’s rule. Fréalaf also has an interesting relationship with the wizard Saruman, who The Lord of the Rings fans might know a little about.
While all the main characters on this new The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim poster hail from the lore, the film will see some original characters come to life. We don’t know what their art and designs will look like yet, but we can’t wait to see.
Writers Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou share with Nerdist, “We got to add several new characters. One would be born out of the other, out of the other, it was kind of a snowball effect. But lore-driven, of course. We have a good balance of who you’d expect to see and new faces. We dig into the Shieldmaiden history a little bit, which was really exciting. That’s something that’s given a little investigation. What kind of women would have paved the way for Éowyn? And so, yeah, we have a few great new memorable characters and a few new women. We brought some girls to the table.” We definitely feel excited to meet these new fierce ladies.
In addition to its characters, this new The War of the Rohirrim poster also teases the epic clashes to come. There’s good vs. evil, Rohan vs. the Dunlendings, Rohan vs. the dark forces of Middle-earth, and more. We further see some of the fantastical beasts of the universe, from Great Eagles to Oliphaunts to troll-looking creatures. Of course, it couldn’t be a movie about Rohan without horses. This is a horsegirl anime film, after all. And we know the horses will bring it. We love to see the charge and crash of the calvary in this The War of the Rohirrim art.
Finally, though we could wax poetic about the wonders of the artwork in The War of Rohirrim for another few thousand words, one of our favorite parts is the new caption at the bottom of the poster. It says, “Hope has yet to abandon these lands.” And that, of course, is a bit of an Easter egg reference to The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. In that movie, a famous Rider of Rohan, Éomer, the brother of Éowyn, says, “Do not trust to hope; it has forsaken these lands.”
But, of course, we know that hope did not forsake Rohan in the original The Lord of the Rings movies, and it will not forsake it in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. We love that this new tagline evokes the spirit of the original movies, though, and look forward to the many The Lord of the Rings Easter eggs to come in The War of the Rohirrim.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Teaser Trailer, Synopsis, and Release Date
If you enjoyed this latest look at The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, make sure to catch its teaser trailer below (and read our breakdown of it here). You can also check out the full synopsis of the film beneath that.
The original anime feature “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” returns audiences to the epic world brought to life in “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy, based on the revered books by J.R.R. Tolkien. Under the direction of award-winning filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama, the talented voice cast is led by Brian Cox as Helm Hammerhand, the mighty King of Rohan; Gaia Wise as his daughter, Héra; and Luke Pasqualino as Wulf. Miranda Otto, reprises her role as Éowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan, who serves as the tale’s narrator.
An attack in Middle-earth by a vengeful lord forces legendary King of Rohan Helm Hammerhand into a bitter war. Now faced with a desperate situation, Helm’s daughter, Héra, must find the strength to fight an enemy she once called friend, whose obsession will drive him to seek her total destruction.
Kamiyama directs from a screenplay by Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews and Phoebe Gittins & Arty Papageorgiou, story by Addiss & Matthews and Phillipa Boyens, based on characters created by J.R.R. Tolkien. The producers are Oscar winner Boyens, Jason DeMarco and Joseph Chou. The executive producers are Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, Sam Register, Ken Kamins, Carolyn Blackwood and Toby Emmerich. The team of creative collaborators returning from “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy also includes Oscar winners Alan Lee and Richard Taylor, along with esteemed Tolkien illustrator John Howe. The music is by Stephen Gallagher, music editor of Jackson’s “Hobbit” Trilogy.
New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation Present, in Association with Wingnut Films, a Warner Bros. Animation and Sola Entertainment Production, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.”
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will release in theaters nationwide on December 13, 2024, and internationally beginning on December 11, 2024.
