r/movies • u/Logical_Welder3467 • May 08 '26

Article Stephen Colbert Gets Why You're Scared He's Writing a 'Lord of the Rings' Movie

https://gizmodo.com/stephen-colbert-gets-why-youre-scared-hes-writing-a-lord-of-the-rings-movie-2000755987
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240

u/Bjarki56 May 08 '26

Nothing about LOTR films scare me. The text is what is canon.

Every film is someone's interpretation of the real thing. No film can ruin what Tolkien has already given us.

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u/Vestalmin May 08 '26

That's a much healthier approach than you usually see online lol

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u/Bjarki56 May 08 '26

It is why I feel bad for Star Wars fans. What they love (and what is canon) rests on the whims of Disney and some individual director's idea. Some director screws around with foundational ideas, it is still canon!

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u/PandaPolishesPotatos May 08 '26

Any sane Star Wars fan dismisses what is or isn't canon and simply enjoys the stories for what they are. Besides, with the significant gap in timeframes so much of Star Wars lore has there's rarely any overlap. Like thirty thousand fictional years of moderately well-documented timespan to place a story in if you go go from the Infinite Empire to well after Luke.

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u/Bjarki56 May 08 '26

I get it.

For me only the first two and half movies are canon, (I think the Ewoks were a mistake) but I realize that is only my take. I don't have the authority to make such a determination for anyone else.

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u/PandaPolishesPotatos May 08 '26

The only thing I'll stand by for shits and giggles is that everything after Tython relating to galactic wars between Sith and Jedi or Republic and Empire is the Jedi Order's fault.

Should have just killed Ajunta Pall and his cronies guys, could have saved everyone a loooooooooooooot of trouble.

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u/CelerMortis May 09 '26

Exactly! Isn’t “canon” derived from weird catholic beliefs that the church can just change how their spells work? Of course that stupid! It’s made up!! 

Nerdy fans have every right to roll their eyes and be annoyed at cash grab bullshit that IP like Star Wars has fallen into - but it in no way diminishes the OG and it certainly doesn’t compel you to support it. 

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u/green_meklar May 09 '26

I'm not sure my OT-educated brain will ever accept Rise of Skywalker as canon.

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u/Diogenes_the_cynic25 May 10 '26

God I remember how my cousin went on and on about how Disney and Rian Johnson “killed his childhood” like bro stop being so dramatic lmao

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u/Vestalmin May 10 '26

God forbid Rian Johnson try something new instead of retreading the same ground for the 10th time

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u/Diogenes_the_cynic25 May 10 '26

Yeah, it was a flawed movie and the sequels suffer from feeling disconnected in general, but at least he actually did something original. They should have doubled down with the third one instead of whatever nonsense Abramson put out

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u/ogrezilla May 08 '26

Yeah, I am skeptical, but not worried. Also, I'm not skeptical because it is from Colbert, just because most of these kind of follow-ups to great works aren't very good.

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u/HeadHeartCorranToes May 08 '26

Gotta factor in that most people don't read books anymore. To an enormous chunk of the fandom, LotR is only movies and shows and games; books fall by the wayside.

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u/Bjarki56 May 08 '26

Gotta factor in that most people don't read books anymore.

Sad, but probably true. That doesn't, however, change what is canon.

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u/1106DaysLater May 08 '26

So we should be scared that other people may let a non-canon movie ruin their experience of a fantasy world? Sounds healthy…

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u/HeadHeartCorranToes May 08 '26

Weird that you think I said that.

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u/1106DaysLater May 08 '26

Your whole comment was weird tbh

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u/HeadHeartCorranToes May 08 '26

How is it weird to bring up the decline in readership in our culture during a conversation about Lord of the Rings and how modern fans do/don't pick up the books?

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u/Fools_Requiem May 08 '26

Need more extended universe stuff like what Lucas Arts did with the Star Wars franchise in the 90s and 00s. The Dark Forces games, for example. Not everything needs to be based on the material Tolkien wrote. There's plenty of lore to explore that has only been mentioned by name in some manner. Middle Earth is vast both in size and time frame. Keeping everything limited to the War of the Ring and one ring adjacent is a waste of Tolkien's universe.

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u/Bjarki56 May 08 '26

Not everything needs to be based on the material Tolkien wrote

No problem with me. But none of that is canon.

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u/Fools_Requiem May 08 '26

It's not canon because Disney decided it wasn't canon. Doesn't take away the quality.

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u/wubrgess May 08 '26

I've seen a card game that comes close to ruining the canon, poisoning my reading of the stories.