Summary

New fan art reimagines iconic Lord of the Rings characters as bodybuilders, showcasing a buff Frodo and other familiar faces at the gym. Digital creator Man Meets Machine created AI-generated artwork that transforms characters like Gandalf, Gollum, Aragorn, and Gimli into muscular figures. The movie trilogy, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy work, directed by Peter Jackson, continues to inspire creative fan interpretations like these.

New fan art provides a complete reimagining of the iconic characters from the Lord of the Rings movies. The movie trilogy, which was directed by Peter Jackson, is based on the fantasy work of the same name by J.R.R. Tolkien and premiered in theaters over three consecutive years between 2001 and 2003. They followed the adventures of the hobbit Frodo (Elijah Wood) as he sought to destroy the dangerous One Ring by throwing it into the fires of Mount Doom, accompanied by various companions along the way.

Digital creator Man Meets Machine has posted AI-generated artwork on Instagram that imagines the Lord of the Rings characters as bodybuilders. Check out the images below:

In addition to showcasing an exceedingly buff Frodo, many other familiar faces are featured at the gym in the gallery. This includes the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), the ring-corrupted hobbit Gollum (Andy Serkis), the ranger Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), and the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), who comes complete with a braided beard and a muscle gut.

Will These Lord of the Rings Characters Ever Return?

The Lord of the Rings trilogy was followed by Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, which did feature the return of quite a few characters despite being a prequel. This included major appearances from Gandalf and Gollum, as well as a cameo from Frodo in a bookending sequence. That trilogy ended in 2014, making it nearly a decade since any of the characters featured here have graced the screen. However, the fact that there is still fan art being made with the movie versions of these iconic literary characters shows the way they have lasted in the public consciousness.

Related: Lord Of The Rings Video Recreates Iconic Fellowship Scene With LEGO

It remains to be seen if any of the characters will return to the screen, either played by the original stars or newly cast performers. The Lord of the Rings franchise has continued in the meantime, but hasn’t featured the return of many of the characters featured in this new artwork. Prime Video’s The Rings of Power cast is vast, but the show is a prequel set millennia beforehand, meaning only immortal characters like the elves Elrond and Galadriel have been able to appear.

Elrond and Galadriel were played by Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett in The Lord of the Rings and are currently being played by Robert Aramayo and Morfydd Clark in The Rings of Power.

However, there is still a chance for the other Lord of the Rings characters to return in one way or another. In addition to the upcoming animated prequel The War of the Rohirrim (which features the return of Miranda Otto as Éowyn), there are more movies in the franchise being developed at Warner Bros. While details about those titles are still being kept tightly under wraps, it’s possible they could take place in a timeline when any of the characters from the original trilogy could appear.

Source: @manmeetsmachine/Instagram

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Release Date: 2001-12-19 Director: Peter Jackson Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis Rating: PG-13 Runtime: 178 Minutes Genres: Action, Fantasy, Adventure Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson Budget: $93 Million Studio(s): New Line Cinema, Wingnut Films Distributor(s): New Line Cinema Sequel(s): The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King prequel(s): The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Franchise(s): The Lord of the Rings