Is Gimli in The Hobbit? I Say Yes

A while back, I wrote a piece on whether John Rhys-Davies was planning to play Gimli in ‘The Hobbit,’ and also linked to it from my PopEater post on how things are going with ‘The Hobbit.’

Commenters noted that Gimli isn’t even in ‘The Hobbit,’ so this isn’t exactly news. Hayley, who blogs at Two Pompous Jerks, commented on my post:

“Gimli, the character Rhys-Davies played in the LOTR films, is not a character in ‘The Hobbit’ — for that character to be in the film at all to begin with would be rather odd. So, we’re not exactly losing anything … why on earth would this be an earth-shattering surprise to anyone who’s at all familiar with ‘The Hobbit’?”

Well, I might have to disagree with you, Hayley. It seems to me that Gimli WAS in ‘The Hobbit.’ Wasn’t he one of the nephews who were part of the entourage of dwarves who hired Bilbo to steal the treasure back from the dragon in the mountain? 

If that’s the case, he would be quite a bit younger, though, so maybe Rhys-Davies wouldn’t fit the part anyway. Besides, he’s already ruled out playing Gimli again, because of a severe allergic reaction to the prosthetic makeup he wore for the role in the previous ‘Lord of the Rings’ films.

“I’ve already been asked, and to be honest with you, I wouldn’t,” said Rhys-Davies in an interview with Empire Online. “I have already completely ruled it out. There’s a sentimental part of me that would love to be involved again. Really, I am not sure my face can take that sort of punishment any more.”

Although the future of ‘The Hobbit’ is unclear at this point, if it moves forward, the two-parter could hit theaters in December 2011 and December 2012.

I’d love to hear your thoughts – including yours, Hayley! — on whether Gimli is actually IN ‘The Hobbit’ or not.

Image: New Line Cinema