Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. star Will Poulter has spoken about his previous departure from Amazon’s upcoming The Lord of the Rings television series. Touted as the most expensive television production of all-time, Amazon’s planned adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s expansive fantasy works began when the streamer purchased the rights from the Tolkien Estate for a massive $250 million in 2017. Filming for The Lord of the Rings season 1 officially got underway in February last year, however by mid-March the shoot experienced production delays due to COVID-19 restrictions. Set during the second age of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, the series will explore a time long before Frodo and his friends from The Shire ever set out to destroy Sauron’s ring of power.
Poulter, whose previous film credits include another epic fantasy in the form of 2010’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, was originally cast in one of the series’ leading roles. However, he later needed to exit production due to scheduling conflicts. Instead, Robert Aramayo, who played a younger version of Eddard “Ned” Stark in Game of Thrones, would eventually come to replace him. More recently, Poulter was announced to be assuming the role of Adam Warlock in the MCU in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, which began filming earlier this month.
In a recent interview with GQ, Poulter talked about his upcoming MCU debut and was asked about his departure from Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series. Asked if he felt like missing out on the role was a “missed opportunity,” Poulter was philosophical about the setback, claiming he was “used to things not going my way.” Check out his full comments below:
"As an actor, you’re very used to things not going your way and having to adapt accordingly. I’m more used to things not going my way. So I just had to shake that one off, and I’m very grateful that on this occasion with Guardians I’m able to do it."
Poulter’s recasting, of course, is not the only change in production on the Lord of the Rings TV show has faced over the years. Its core creative team has also courted several other big names that never made it through to join the series. In 2018, original Lord of the Rings movie trilogy director Peter Jackson was in talks to join the project, but later confirmed he would not be directly involved. Similarly, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss were also being eyed to serve as consultants on the show, but ultimately inked a deal with Netflix instead. Meanwhile renowned Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey, who assisted dialogue coaches on the Peter Jackson films, was originally announced to be involved in the show but also later parted ways. Then, after filming of Lord of the Rings season 1 wrapped, Amazon also announced it would be moving production on the sophomore season to the UK instead.
It would seem that scheduling conflicts, creative team reshuffles, and cast changes are almost par-for-the-course when it comes to productions on the scale of Lord of the Rings. Given that Poulter’s being cast in the show would most likely have demanded he sign on for a multi-year commitment spanning several seasons, it’s easy to see how those kinds of arrangements can fall through when he may have already had prior arrangements in place. While it was no doubt a huge disappointment for him at the time, considering how big the series is expected to be, at least Poulter can take comfort in his new role as a Marvel superhero. Coveted roles of that kind rarely come around even once for most actors, and being able to take solace in losing out on doing The Lord of the Rings by joining the MCU instead seems like a massive reversal in fortune for the actor; and one he seems genuinely grateful for.
Source: GQ
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