Middle-earth: Shadow of War will feature ‘key characters from the lore’ without ‘shoehorning’

Middle-earth: Shadow of War will not be ‘shoehorning in’ established characters from Lord of the Rings, according to Monolith’s Creative VP. 

In interview with our sister site Xbox Achievements, Michael de Plater talked about how characters fit into the story of the sequel to Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. 

‘The thing we want to avoid is the shoehorning in,’ said de Plater. ‘If they fit the story and support the story, then we put them in.

‘We do have some key characters from the lore, and we do have Gollum returning, because obviously Mordor, and the ring of power… it totally makes sense for him; he’s very drawn to those things. And we introduce new characters.’

In particular, de Plater said that the team was, this time, excited to expand on the Nazgûl — also known as the Ringwraiths — as characters, as well as their backstory. ‘Of course, there again, it’s closely tied to Celebrimbor and the Rings of Power and Sauron, so getting to see some more of their history and flesh them out as characters and as villains as well.’

Here’s hoping that Shadow of War will introduce other interesting supporting characters from the lore, too. I know it says no shoehorning in, but Tom Bombadil turning up on the outskirts of Mordor to yell a song would be pretty sweet.