One More Hobbit Returns? Dominic Monaghan Eyes Reprise

Imagine Merry Brandybuck slipping back into the fields of Middle-earth. The idea lands like a familiar song — comforting, impossible to ignore.

Dominic Monaghan, who grew up on screen from prankish hobbit to seasoned warrior across Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, has signaled he’s ready to don the cloak again for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Frodo and Gandalf are already confirmed to appear, and now Monaghan has made clear he’s open to returning as Merry.

He spoke to ScreenRant during promotion for The Librarians: The Next Chapter, and his tone mixed practicality with fondness. Monaghan explained that conversations about bringing back the original hobbits have taken place — though they remain broad rather than scripted plans — and stressed that the core creative team still orbit one another: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, whom he calls the true imaginative engine behind the films.

There’s a clear blueprint at work. Monaghan said he believes the team sees Middle-earth as a world to expand, much the way other big franchises stretched their mythologies. He thinks the appetite is there. He’s right: audiences never really left. They kept the maps and the memories.

The Hunt for Gollum sits chronologically after the events of The Hobbit films and just before the opening of the original trilogy. In this story Aragorn is sent to track Gollum — a premise that naturally threads in characters who have stakes in the ring’s fate. Andy Serkis, who made Gollum indelible, will return. So will Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood, and that trio’s involvement makes Monaghan’s possible return feel less like a cameo and more like a reunion.

Asked if he’d be willing to reclaim Merry, Monaghan didn’t hedge. He joked about the years that have passed — hair, beard, the inevitable lines — and said he’d do what’s needed to look younger on screen. Dyeing hair? Fine. Styling beard? Absolutely. Then, with a grin, he offered a simple barometer for his readiness: 'If Ian McKellen can still play Gandalf, I think I can still play Merry.'

There’s charm in that certainty. Monaghan noted that he and Elijah Wood may have aged more slowly than their fellow hobbit actors, Billy Boyd and Sean Astin, and that reality factors into any casting conversation. Yet this isn’t just about appearances; it’s about ownership. He’s made it clear he wouldn’t be keen on someone else stepping into Merry’s boots if he had the chance.

Fans have already been surprised by the announcements that Frodo and Gandalf will appear. Wood sounded cautious at first about returning, while McKellen was far more explicit in his willingness to come back. Wood later confirmed his role in the 2027 project will be relatively brief, a small but meaningful stitch in the larger tapestry.

For Monaghan, the journey of Merry — from light-hearted companion to battlefield-hardened hero, fighting at Pelennor Fields and in the War of the Ring — remains central to why the character matters. A returning Merry is more than nostalgia. It’s a chance to show how the ripples of past adventures shape the people who survived them.

Whether those ripples will carry Monaghan back to Middle-earth depends on decisions still being shaped behind closed doors. But the actor’s tone was unmistakable: he’s talked to the right people, he admires the original creative team, and he’s ready to step back into the story if the call comes.

Artists and audiences alike are watching. Will Merry come home? Time will tell, and when it does, it will be one of those rare returns that feels like a chapter reopening rather than just a footnote.