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Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown in 'The Hobbit'

Chris3123

Chris3123

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The wizard Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy) is only mentioned in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Hobbit book once, but Boyens had enough to go on to boost his role in the new movie series, and she feels he’s going to become a well-loved character. “He’s not at all like Gandalf,” Boyens says. “There’s a power and danger and sharpness and wits and cunning even about Gandalf that you sense immediately, whereas Radagast is much quieter and gentler. You could mistakenly think he’s not even a wizard or that he might not have any powers of his own, and then you discover that he does.”
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USA Today - page 5 of this gallery

Radagast on Lord of the Rings Wiki

I'm not the least bit familiar with the character (I read the book once, a long time ago), but McCoy looks great. This will be my first time seeing him in anything other than Doctor Who.
 
He looks really unrecognisable. They seem to have given him a prosthetic nose, just like they did with McKellen as Gandalf. Wizards not only arrive precisely when they intend to, but are preceded by their noses.
 
He's in the just released Trailer too.

It's still a shame that he didn't get to play Bilbo in the LOTR films but good on Peter Jackson for taking a character who gets a one line mention in the book and turning it into a fully fledged role for him.
 
For the record, according to A Guide to Middle-Earth by Robert Foster, Radagast is mentioned (and I have checked and confirmed):

  • On pages 336-337, 342, and 359 of The Fellowship of the Ring (1970's Ballantine edition)
  • On page 121 of The Hobbit (again, 1970's Ballantine edition)
Though assuredly a minor character, a far cry from only mention on one line.

Any word of the Blue Wizards being in the film?
 
Very nice. This makes it at least 2 wizards for McCoy's career so far after the Doctor was identified as Merlin in "Battlefield."

"I hate good wizards in fairy tales. They always turn out to be him."
--River Song, "The Pandorica Opens"
 
CorporalCaptain said:
For the record, according to A Guide to Middle-Earth by Robert Foster, Radagast is mentioned (and I have checked and confirmed):

  • On pages 336-337, 342, and 359 of The Fellowship of the Ring (1970's Ballantine edition)
  • On page 121 of The Hobbit (again, 1970's Ballantine edition)
Though assuredly a minor character, a far cry from only mention on one line.

Any word of the Blue Wizards being in the film?
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The latest episode of Corey Olsen (The Tolkien Professor)'s "Riddles in the Dark" podcast has an extended discussion of Radagast and the Blue Wizards. In addition to the mentions above, Radagast is also mentioned in Unfinished Tales and The Peoples of Middle-Earth, and Olsen discusses those mentions as well.

An appearance by the Blue Wizards Alatar and Palandro would certainly be unexpected, but it's also unlikely. I don't believe they're mentioned in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, and that would put them beyond what Jackson has the rights for. (The Lord of the Rings Wiki gives page references in LotR to mentions of the Blue Wizards, but all those references mention are that there are five wizards, not that they are blue, and certainly not their names.)
 
The most details we know about Alatar and Palandro come from Tolkien's letters. I honestly don't recall any reference to them (oblique or not) in Lord of the Rings but its been awhile since I've read those books.
 
Allyn Gibson said:
CorporalCaptain said:
For the record, according to A Guide to Middle-Earth by Robert Foster, Radagast is mentioned (and I have checked and confirmed):

  • On pages 336-337, 342, and 359 of The Fellowship of the Ring (1970's Ballantine edition)
  • On page 121 of The Hobbit (again, 1970's Ballantine edition)
Though assuredly a minor character, a far cry from only mention on one line.

Any word of the Blue Wizards being in the film?
Click to expand...

The latest episode of Corey Olsen (The Tolkien Professor)'s "Riddles in the Dark" podcast has an extended discussion of Radagast and the Blue Wizards. In addition to the mentions above, Radagast is also mentioned in Unfinished Tales and The Peoples of Middle-Earth, and Olsen discusses those mentions as well.

An appearance by the Blue Wizards Alatar and Palandro would certainly be unexpected, but it's also unlikely. I don't believe they're mentioned in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, and that would put them beyond what Jackson has the rights for. (The Lord of the Rings Wiki gives page references in LotR to mentions of the Blue Wizards, but all those references mention are that there are five wizards, not that they are blue, and certainly not their names.)
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Thanks, I listened to the podcast, which is at http://www.mythgard.org/2012/09/riddles-in-the-dark-17-radagast-the-brown-and-the-movie-app/. It's great.

Also, Foster's page references in The Fellowship of the Ring for Radagast are incomplete, as he is also mentioned on page 339.
 
I'm sure it would be way too fannish. But its a shame they didn't think of getting Tom, Colin, and maybe even Peter in to play the other wizards.
 
The Valar's "Wizard Initiative" was almost a complete failure, wasn't it? The blue wizards went native and disappeared completely, Saruman became arrogant, corrupted and ultimately, evil, Radagast spent more time talking to birds than fighting Sauron. And they had to reboot Gandalf before he worked properly.
 
The Mirrorball Man said:
The Valar's "Wizard Initiative" was almost a complete failure, wasn't it? The blue wizards went native and disappeared completely, Saruman became arrogant, corrupted and ultimately, evil, Radagast spent more time talking to birds than fighting Sauron. And they had to reboot Gandalf before he worked properly.
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It's thought that Radagast's mission was actually successful, though that assumes that his mission was to protect the flora and fauna of the world should Sauron succeed. The same holds true for blue wizards. One thought is the reason Sauron was stepping up his plans in the west was because at least one of the blue wizards managed to take control of the dragons to the east, and Sauron needed to find a way to counter that. Hence the heavy influence of dragons in Eastern culture.

Likewise, Gandalf didn't really fail. In fact, he sacrificed himself in order to help the mission at hand. He was "rebooted" partly as a reward for that sacrifice.
 
Mister Fandango said:
The Mirrorball Man said:
The Valar's "Wizard Initiative" was almost a complete failure, wasn't it? The blue wizards went native and disappeared completely, Saruman became arrogant, corrupted and ultimately, evil, Radagast spent more time talking to birds than fighting Sauron. And they had to reboot Gandalf before he worked properly.
Click to expand...
It's thought that Radagast's mission was actually successful, though that assumes that his mission was to protect the flora and fauna of the world should Sauron succeed. The same holds true for blue wizards. One thought is the reason Sauron was stepping up his plans in the west was because at least one of the blue wizards managed to take control of the dragons to the east, and Sauron needed to find a way to counter that. Hence the heavy influence of dragons in Eastern culture.

Likewise, Gandalf didn't really fail. In fact, he sacrificed himself in order to help the mission at hand. He was "rebooted" partly as a reward for that sacrifice.
Click to expand...
Yeah. If you can't tell, the tone of my post was not entirely serious.

Anyway. Other people seem to think that the Blue Wizards were sent East to find the lost Avari elves and bring them back to Valinor.
 
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