But they can't cross over into any of the events of the Third Age from the Peter Jackson movies. Which means that to most modern audiences who only know the movies, this might as well be Streaming Service Fantasy Series #234. I'm not saying it will be bad. I have a lot of hope for it. I'm just saying that there may be a learning curve for anyone who goes into it waiting for dope Gandalf references.
Related: Some Of Your Favorite Characters Were Almost Terrible
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Hannibal Couldn't Use Clarice Starling Because Another Studio Owned The Rights To The Character
When Hannibal, the absurdly violent horror TV show that starred Mads Mikkelsen and Mads Mikkelsen's hypnotic gaze, got cancelled after only three seasons, fans were taken aback. Based on the rough timeline of the books, it was bowing right before Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster's character from The Silence Of The Lambs) entered the picture. Why cancel the show right as it was gearing up for that?
And then, years later, when a Clarice Starling procedural series was announced, fans were even more taken aback. Why make it when you could've just, ya know, put Clarice in the show everyone already liked? It's like if you tried to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and just before you get to the jelly, your asshole roommate slathered the jelly on the counter while shouting "ACTUALLY IT'S QUITE TASTY THIS WAY."
But here's the thing: Odds are, your perfect Hannibal show that somehow hops every Lecter novel was never gonna happen. That's because the producers working with NBC only had the rights to Hannibal Rising, Red Dragon, and Hannibal. Silence Of The Lambs was distributed by Orion Pictures back in 1991, and when they went bankrupt, MGM gobbled up all of their assets. So Hannibal could do anything it wanted, but the minute Mads uttered "Hello, Clarice," MGM would cram lawyers so far down Hannibal's throat that they could taste the fava beans.