Gandalf Is Officially Getting His Own Lord Of The Rings Prequel

Published Oct 7, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT Angel Shaw is a Lead Writer and Critic on ScreenRant's TV team, covering new-release and classic TV shows across all major streaming platforms. She has been a writer with ScreenRant since 2022 and specializes in Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and fantasy. Angel holds a bachelor's degree in language interpreting and is passionate about all things culture and communication—especially in how it relates to popular media throughout history (from Shakespeare to Friends to Game of Thrones). As much as there has always been an appeal to the concept of a Gandalf prequel, the current approach isn't the answer. Gandalf the Grey (the White) is something of a figurehead to the Lord of the Rings franchise, so it's rather fitting that this character has essentially been in every screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. Despite this, we've really only brushed the surface of Gandalf's overarching story. This is among the most ancient beings in Middle-earth, so the decades spanned by The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are just a minuscule fraction of his history. Through Frodo and Bilbo's adventures, Gandalf is an old, mysterious wizard. What is never really mentioned in The Lord of the Rings movies (or even in Tolkien's central books) is that he is really an immortal, shapeshifting, angel-like being from Valinor (The Undying Lands) called a Maia. Precisely how he came to be what we now permanently associate with Sir Ian McKellen is an entire story in itself. There are breathtaking literary parallels between Gandalf's story and the broader themes of The Lord of the Rings, and this is absolutely something that should be brought to the screen one day. Unfortunately, the wrong screen adaptation got hold of this story first. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power spent its first two seasons suggesting that its mysterious "Stranger" character could secretly be Gandalf. That sophomore finale finally confirmed it. This means that Rings of Power season 3 will be the first to begin and end with the newly named "Gandalf" as an overt character. For the first time, we will see this wizard begin his great mission to guide the people of Middle-earth against Sauron on our screens. The trouble is that this is all wrong. It would be spectacular to see an adaptation that strings Gandalf's full prequel story together using Tolkien's notes, The Silmarillion, and the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings. After all, fully understanding where this character comes from retroactively makes this whole franchise so much better. However, Rings of Power has no business transforming itself into a Gandalf prequel, since Gandalf didn't arrive in Middle-earth until thousands of years later. Rings Of Power Turning Itself Into A Gandalf Prequel Causes Multiple Problems MoviestillsDB The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 will pick up after a five-year time jump, so Daniel Weyman's version of Gandalf will have settled into his role more. The memory and morality issues of the first two installments will be gone, and we should watch the grey wizard begin to sort out his destiny. There may even be some flashbacks to his original life as Olórin in Valinor. Saruman and Radagast will surely be introduced, and any background between Gandalf and Sauron (since this villain is also a Maia) can be explored—but none of it will be canon. Tolkien wrote enough about Gandalf's backstory for a screen adaptation to construct a plausible, relatively canon story. However, because Rings of Power is moving all of this way up in the timeline, the foundation of this story is completely wrong. All for the sake of not giving the Stranger's identity away (they really wanted us to think he was Sauron for a minute), the TV show changed the circumstances of Gandalf's arrival in Middle-earth, bringing him down in a shooting star rather than the traditional way. That's only the beginning. There's already a canon story regarding how Gandalf came to be acquainted with and grew partial to Hobbits, which Rings of Power entirely retconned. Additionally, there was no indication that Gandalf came to Middle-earth completely clueless about his mission, or that he had to train under Tom Bombadil. Gandalf isn't even supposed to be in Middle-earth when Isildur successfully cuts the One Ring from Sauron's hand. All of these creative liberties were always bound to be controversial, but they are, at least, entertaining. In other circumstances, The Rings of Power's Gandalf-prequel angle would be laughed off as an interesting idea. What makes it a problem is that, now that this strange version of the story has been introduced, it will be much harder to ever get a real prequel show or movie off the ground. Rings of Power laid claim to a story it didn't actually have any real reason to, and that has hindered further opportunities, at least for now. It's just a shame. Release Date September 1, 2022 Network Amazon Prime Video Showrunner John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip Directors J.A. Bayona, Sanaa Hamri Writers Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, J.R.R. Tolkien, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Stephany Folsom, Nicholas Adams Franchise(s) The Lord of the Rings