New Lord of the Rings Anime Has New Heroine Leading The Charge

The next Lord of the Rings movie, the animated film War of the Rohirrim, releases in theaters this December, and while there is no trailer yet, there are a few images and a new one dropped Wednesday. The new image has Héra Hammerhand, daughter of Helm Hammerhand charging away on her horse.

Along with the image, legendary filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama, who is directing the first anime Lord of the Rings project, confirms that Hela will be leading her troops against her enemies, a first in a Tolkien adaptation.

“In Japanese animation, it’s not uncommon for a female protagonist to be the main character, but it’s more rare in the live-action films made from The Lord of the Rings,” he said. “Our film has a strong female lead in Héra, and our story is narrated by the noble Tolkien figure Éowyn, so women are very well represented. I think there are a lot of fans who really like Tolkien’s original work, so I hope those people will enjoy it. Making this movie has been a fun challenge.”

The War of the Rohirrim stars Brian Cox as the voice of Helm Hammerhand, with Miranda Otto coming back to voice Eowyn, the role she played in Peter Jackson’s live-action trilogy. Gaia Wise (A Walk in the Woods) will play Hera, who is leading the resistance against a “deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.”

War of the Rohirrim, which releases in theaters on December 13, is not the only Lord of the Rings movie in the works now at Warner Bros. Andy Serkis will direct a Gollum-focused Lord of the Rings movie currently in the works under the working title The Hunt for Gollum. Jackson, Boyens, Fran Walsh–the architects of the Oscar-winning, multi-billion-dollar series–are returning to produce the new film. On top of that, Jackson is making at least one more new Lord of the Rings movie after this.