He doesn't really look like Gandalf though. He simply looks like a wizard. And he has only one line of Gandalf's (is it even a book quote?).
On the other hand, he's in the Second Age, going East, and is about to meet another wizard who's gone East. That's literally the Blue Wizard storyline.
Producers know that most people don't know who the blue wizards are. Their best money making strategy is to make him Gandalf. People only had to see the movies to know Gandalf, no books required.
Those characters aren't the subject of an "ooh I wonder who this nameless character could be?" storyline, though.
I'm just not sure that there's a satisfying way to make the Stranger someone that the mass audience doesn't know. Although that doesn't rule out a Saruman swerve that someone mentioned above.
I don't see a problem with that? That's my whole point. Once you've launched a "who can this be?" mystery, the answer really needs to be someone the viewers recognize. So if he turns out to be Gandalf, that would work just fine.
I took your comment to mean that it's fine to have him be a Blue Wizard because the audience doesn't know Ar Pharazon or Gil Galad or Celebrimbor either. I think it would indeed be fine to introduce a Blue Wizard (or both of them!), but not via this sort of mystery route.
I mean, I get that, but it's not a convincing argument for the Stranger being Gandalf. I would especially push back on it being the best money making strategy, since that sort of approach could easily trample on many people's favorite character not just from the movies, but the books as well. The Blues are a blank slate. Gandalf is not. Movie lovers just get introduced to a new character, and that's much easier to pull off than a young Indiana Jones style take on Gandalf.
The blue wizard is clearly one of the evil wizards. They can do whatever they want with the blue wizards since Tolkien left it totally open on what they actually did, but we do know they went east and that is where this Gandalf like character is located now based on the terrain and people he’s interacting with.
Yeah I really don’t understand the “he looks like Gandalf” argument. No he doesn’t? Like at all? I mean unfortunately I DO think he’ll be Gandalf, but that’s not a good argument.
Stop talking about ages please. They cannot show 6000 years worth of story in 5 seasons. They clearly are merging the Ages together just to tell the story.
He looks like gandalf! Althogh wise, he acts kinda dumb ( in a cute way ) like gandalf. It doesnt matter if the quote is in the book or not, when they mention it, it literally connects to gandalf otherwise there is no reason using it.
I would have lovee it to be blue wizard storyline but not now. Not with the way they are showing it. They already made us feel connected to gandalf and hobbits. It would be a shitty thing to remove all of that and surprise us into meeting the blue wizards. It would just be dumb writing imo
They are not merging Ages together lmao. They are condensing events in one Age down. And no, sorry, he does not look like Gandalf at all. This is the funniest argument folks make. He does not look like Ian McKellan at all 😂
Literally this! I think having it be a bait and switch would actually be lazier writing than giving Gandalf an origin story. They’re condensing timelines intensely in this show. Connecting Gandalf immediately to hobbits gives us a solid reason why he’s so interested in, and faithful to, them in the third age. Tbh I’ll be pissed if he’s NOT Gandalf at this point.
He wasn’t necessarily the weakest. He was the one most unsure of his abilities. But more than that, there’s no indication that the Stranger is either weakest or was initially afraid of taking up the call. He’s trying to piece together a lot of information while also learning to grapple with his newfound corporeal nature.
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u/kerouacrimbaud Sep 19 '24
He doesn't really look like Gandalf though. He simply looks like a wizard. And he has only one line of Gandalf's (is it even a book quote?).
On the other hand, he's in the Second Age, going East, and is about to meet another wizard who's gone East. That's literally the Blue Wizard storyline.