In a recent BBC radio interview with Graham Norton, McKellen was asked about the possibility of being replaced in his iconic role; an understandable query, seeing as the legendary knighted actor is 78 years old. However, the question, posed as speculation about “there being another Gandalf in town,” was answered in intriguing fashion. Answered McKellen: Indeed, McKellen was not being facetious with that comment. Gandalf may carry the corporeal façade of an elderly, grey-bearded beggar, but he – like the other wizards (or Istari) of Middle Earth – is a celestial spirit called a Maiar (akin to a mid-level angel), sent to Middle Earth from the Undying Lands in the beginning of the Third Age to aid its peoples against the surging threat of Sauron (also once a Maiar,) and the Ring of Power, always in the form of a sagely elder.
