Aragorn, son of Arathorn, King of men could have been in The Hobbit Trilogy. And even though we didn’t see him in those movies, there are ways even a hardcore Tolkien fan could have approved seeing Aragorn stride through The Hobbit.
According to Viggo Mortensen — who played Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy — he had a few chats with producers for The Hobbit trilogy about reprising his role as the iconic leader of men for the prequels. Obviously nothing ever came of those chats. The prequel films are distinctly Aragorn-less. From a canonical perspective, this makes sense. If you’ve read Tolkien’s The Hobbit, then you know Aragorn isn’t present within those hallowed pages.
But, not being in J. R. R. Tolkien’s book didn’t stop The Hobbit films from including Legolas and “Tauriel” in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Legolas didn’t even feature in the original novel and Tauriel — no matter your opinion on her character — was an invention of the filmmakers.
Obviously the creative powers behind The Hobbit trilogy had no problem bending the plot and character biographies to suit their desires; these films could have easily twisted the rules just a bit more to suit their (and our) Aragorn needs.
Thanks to his immortality, adding Legolas into the mix was simple enough. But things with Aragorn get a bit trickier, seeing as he’s a Man, not an elf. Without getting into too many details (because, in Tolkien’s world, there are details for the details), Aragorn was exactly 10 years old during the events of The Hobbit. He was also living with the elves of Rivendell following the death of his father and had no idea who he truly was (the heir of Isildur and the rightful claimant to the thrones of Arnor and Gondor — no big deal).
But, wait! Bilbo Baggins and his merry band of dwarves spent some time in Rivendell with Aragorn’s adoptive father, Elrond, you say! A pint-sized Aragorn could have easily come running through the halls of Rivendell and trashed the dinner table alongside the dwarves!
If the team behind The Hobbit were really concerned with getting, specifically, Viggo Mortenson back on screen as Aragorn, then visions of the future were their chance.
Lady Galadriel — another immortal elf — was also present at Rivendell and a significant player in The Hobbit films. We see, especially in the films, that Galadriel has immense powers of perception and telepathy, and often handed out visions of encouragement. Perhaps a small boy such as Aragorn, destined for greatness — who would soon fall in love with Galadriel’s granddaughter, Arwen — would have been of particular interest to such a powerful being. Perhaps visions of a bright future brought about, in part, by an older Aragorn could have been great encouragement to Bilbo, Thorin, and the rest of their company.
The Hobbit could have given us pinch of Aragorn for at least one more movie, but they didn’t, and now we’re eternally bitter.
