'New Elf Character Worked So Well in The Hobbit, Why Not Run It Back?': Lord of the Rings Fans React to Anya Taylor-Joy's Casting in the Hunt for Gollum

Lord of the Rings fans have given their reactions to the announcement that Anya Taylor-Joy has been cast as a new character not originated by J.R.R. Tolkien in the upcoming spinoff film The Hunt for Gollum. Taylor-Joy's casting comes with few other details about her role, other than the fact that the Super Mario Galaxy Movie star will play a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm, described as "a trusted and lethal agent of King Thranduil." Reacting to the news, many fans have commented that Seren's role sounds similar to Tauriel — the character played by Lost and Ant-Man star Evangeline Lilly in Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies — who was also an elven aide for Thranduil, as well as being one of that trilogy's most controversial additions. "Who the hell is Seren?" wrote PuzzleheadedBag920, succinctly summing up many fans' thoughts in a lengthy thread on reddit. "The name of the Goddess of the Elves in RuneScape, funnily enough," added another fan, Any-sao. Perhaps it is not a surprise that The Hunt for Gollum must feature additional characters not in Tolkien's work — simply because the movie's entire premise is based on a period only mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Ring's text. The fil