Welcome to the world of big-budget filmmaking, where no project is too small or too large to avoid getting embroiled in controversy. Superhero movies are far from a safe haven these days, as “Supergirl” most recently proved by following in the same footsteps as the troll-filled hate campaign against “Captain Marvel,” while the less said about the state of “Star Wars” and its fanbase, the better. Even Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” hasn’t avoided the target on its back. But “The Lord of the Rings” has largely managed to sidestep such larger culture war concerns … on the big screen, at least. The Prime Video series “The Rings of Power” has encountered the wrath of racist fans for its diverse casting, as even casual viewers have likely heard about. But now, it appears one upcoming movie in particular is becoming ground zero for a whole new set of complications.

“The Hunt for Gollum” represents the first step taken towards a new era of Middle-earth in film, but director and star Andy Serkis finds himself at the center of two controversies swirling around the production instead. With filming having only just begun, it’s hard to believe that even an incomplete movie in such early stages would inspire so much discourse. But thanks to a pair of statements by Serkis (one misguided and inconsiderate to the extreme, and the other lacking in a certain amount of nuance), this is yet another example of an internet conversation in desperate need of some clarification.

Can cooler heads prevail? When it comes to the two thorny topics at hand, regarding diversity in casting and the use of AI in movies, volatile emotions come with the territory. No wonder “The Hunt for Gollum” is already the most controversial “The Lord of the Rings” movie yet.

If you want a guaranteed way to set off 24/7 news cycles about your movie in the year of our Lord 2026, make an off-handed (and rather ill-considered) comment about diversity in casting — or, in this case, the lack thereof. It should go without saying that filmmaker Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and even his subsequent “The Hobbit” movies came at a time when there was far less scrutiny on the inclusivity of our entertainment. We’ve come a long way since then, but sometimes, we still find ourselves right back at square one.

“The Hunt for Gollum” director Andy Serkis was inevitably asked about the optics of his all-white cast (to date, anyway), and his answer, to no surprise, opened himself up to all sorts of volatile responses. Speaking with BBC News, Serkis admitted that, “Yes, there have been criticisms,” referring to decades of discussion surrounding “The Lord of the Rings” casting in general. He went on to say, “This particular film is somewhat acknowledging that. But I don’t think we will be doing a politically correct, just-casting-for-the sake-of-casting-and-ticking-boxes version of the film. So, it’s where relevant, basically.”

There’s no getting around the insensitive nature of this statement — and, worse yet, Serkis’ failure to anticipate how certain political pundits (*cough* Fox News *cough*) would jump at the chance to sow division with this quote. A much better reply would’ve simply acknowledged the nature of the story for “The Hunt for Gollum”: It’s a prequel following several familiar characters (like a younger Aragorn) whose initial casting dictates the casting here as well. Serkis could’ve also assured us that more casting announcements are on the way. Instead, he only dug himself a deeper, self-inflicted hole.

If only that were the sole issue dogging the steps of “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.” Given Andy Serkis’ pioneering work as a motion-capture performer and his starring role in what promises to be a psychological deep-dive into the villainous Gollum, it stands to reason that this film would push the boundaries of technology even further than the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” trilogies did. Of course, no discussion nowadays would be complete without addressing the AI of it all. Variety did just that in an interview of its own, asking Serkis whether he plans on using such tools on “The Hunt for Gollum.” As he explained:

“There’s a little bit of de-aging for some of the characters, and machine-learning is part of the process. When you think about it, in the original ‘Lord of the Rings’ films, Peter [Jackson] created Massive, which was a program which allowed thousands of orcs to all have their own individual mindset. So, that is a brilliant example of an incredible use of AI. But we’re not creating AI shots in our movie, every shot is created in a traditional way.”

Considering the context, these comments aren’t quite as alarming as aggregator accounts on social media may have made them seem. Serkis isn’t wrong to draw comparisons to the visual effects used to bring those sweeping crowd shots of armies and other combatants to life in “The Lord of the Rings” — which, as CNET explains, technically falls under the category of early-era AI. And if such de-aging is limited to, say, Sir Ian McKellen reprising his role as Gandalf, that’s harmless enough.

“The Hunt for Gollum” hits theaters December 17, 2027.