In 2027, Middle earth returns to the big screen, and this time the shadow may finally be given a body. The upcoming film, The Hunt for Gollum, promises to explore the dark corners of Tolkien’s world, where Gollum’s torment and secrets come face to face with the franchise’s ultimate evil.
For decades, Sauron has been a presence rather than a person. In the novels, he was described more as a will than a man, a force extending from the black tower of Barad dur. He was unseen, unnamed in form, and defined by the terror he cast across the land rather than by a body that could be touched.
Peter Jackson’s Controversial Vision of Sauron
When Peter Jackson translated The Lord of the Rings to cinema, he made a bold creative choice. Instead of an unseen dark lord, he gave audiences a literal, burning eye perched atop Barad dur. It was a visual masterstroke for film, giving viewers a concrete enemy, a constant reminder that something was watching.
That creative decision, however, changed the rules of Sauron forever on screen. No longer a broken spirit with a withered body, he became a symbol, a vast and flaming gaze that stood in for a character who no longer needed a physical form.
The Hunt for Gollum Can Finally Show Sauron as a Being
Set shortly before the main events of the original trilogy, The Hunt for Gollum is positioned to explore the darkest chapter of Gollum’s life, his capture and torture in Mordor.
In Tolkien’s text, Gollum briefly describes what he saw, a black hand, missing a finger, reaching from the darkness. That single detail confirms something the films avoided, that Sauron possessed a physical body and directly tormented him.
This new film has the runtime and narrative space to finally bring that moment to life. Even if it only shows a grasping hand in shadow, that would be the clearest on screen confirmation yet that Sauron exists in flesh as well as spirit.
The Biggest Continuity Problem the New Film Must Solve
Here is the problem. The film cannot show Sauron, and it cannot avoid him either.
In the cinematic universe established by the earlier movies, Saruman clearly states that Sauron cannot take physical form without the Ring. That line defined everything audiences understood about him. He was an eye, a will, a disembodied force.
If The Hunt for Gollum shows Sauron with a body, it risks contradicting the very mythology the films built. If it avoids showing him, it contradicts the books and removes one of the most haunting pieces of Gollum’s story.
It is a creative trap. Either the Eye of Sauron is not truly Sauron, or Sauron is more powerful than the films ever suggested.
A Change That Could Reshape the Entire Franchise
The flaming eye made cinematic sense twenty years ago. It gave form to fear. It gave audiences something to look at, something to remember. Now that same choice threatens to limit what the new story can show.
The Hunt for Gollum must walk a razor thin line between honoring Tolkien’s original lore and preserving the internal logic of the films. And in that tension lies its greatest dramatic power.
If it succeeds, we may finally see the real Sauron.
If it fails, it will expose one of the most fragile foundations of the entire franchise.
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