18 Months Before His Lord Of The Rings Return, Andy Serkis Joins Another Fantasy Franchise

Published Jun 23, 2026, 5:30 PM EDT

Clearly, the Lord of the Rings franchise is changing in big ways, with a movie release 18 months from now proving as much. Still, that has not stopped a major actor from the movies, Andy Serkis, from joining a Prime Video fantasy rival of The Lord of the Rings. Serkis has recently been part of big franchises like Star Wars and the Sony Spider-Man Universe, but his latest is a 100%-rated TV show on the aforementioned streaming service: The Legend of Vox Machina.

Serkis appeared in the most recent batch of episodes for The Legend of Vox Machina, which is currently airing its fourth season on Prime Video. Serkis voiced Gideon, a mysterious character with links to one of the titular team's members. Although The Legend of Vox Machina is animated and, thus, has some big differences from Serkis' typical motion-capture roles, the franchise certainly makes sense as one for him to join.

Serkis is a big fantasy guy, as is evident from his past roles. In many ways, The Lord of the Rings and The Legend of Vox Machina are similar. Both are high fantasy, detailing the efforts of teams made up of different races in stopping great evils that would threaten their world and their people. Ultimately, with this in mind, The Legend of Vox Machina is an excellent series for Serkis to be a part of.

Andy Serkis' Role In The Legend Of Vox Machina Explained

Gideon is introduced as a fairly minor character in The Legend of Vox Machina season 4, episode 6. Initially, Gideon appears as the leader of a group that has rebuilt Westruun, the city destroyed by Umbrasyl in season 2. Wilhand Trickfoot, Pike's relative, is part of this group, which Pike soon learns is a cult dedicated to the Whispered One. Pike and Grog try to remove Wilhand from this environment, given their previous encounters with this cult, named the Children of Truth.

Throughout this story, Gideon appears as a dedicated cultist, though not necessarily one who is outright evil like those from The Legend of Vox Machina season 4, episode 3. However, by the end of episode 6, this changed. Gideon seemed to be the leader of all the Children of Truth, even above the blindfolded woman who laid waste to Keyleth's ceremony in episode 3. This woman was revealed as Delilah Briarwood, a villain from season 1, who answers directly to Gideon. Therefore, it seems as if Andy Serkis is voicing The Legend of Vox Machina season 4's primary antagonist.

Andy Serkis Will Define The Lord Of The Rings' Movie Future

This makes Andy Serkis important to the future of The Legend of Vox Machina, an importance he also has for the Lord of the Rings franchise. In December 2027, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will be released in theaters as the first live-action film in the franchise since 2014's The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Aside from focusing on Gollum, the character Serkis played in both trilogies, this film will increase his importance to the franchise via his other role on the project.

Serkis will be directing The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. This makes the movie the first live-action theatrical Lord of the Rings film directed by someone other than Peter Jackson. Although Jackson is producing and screenwriters from the original trilogy are returning, Serkis is responsible for driving The Lord of the Rings into a new era.

How this will look, feel, and pan out remains to be seen, but it makes Serkis vital to the franchise's future. If The Hunt for Gollum truly works and earns a lot at the box office, there is no doubt that Warner Bros. will immediately push for more live-action Lord of the Rings films. This will have a knock-on effect on the movie announced that is being written by Jackson and Stephen Colbert, too. Clearly, Serkis is not only important to one franchise in The Legend of Vox Machina, but he will dictate the future of the entire Lord of the Rings series.