The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim releases a new image, providing a fresh look at the film’s protagonist, Hèra. After numerous adventures in live-action, the Lord of the Rings franchise is set to make the jump to anime with director Kenji Kamiyama’s The War of the Rohirrim. The upcoming film, which takes place hundreds of years before Frodo’s quest to destroy the One Ring, follows Hèra (Gaia Wise) and her father, Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), the founder of Helm’s Deep, as they become embroiled in an epic war against the Dunlending wildmen.

Now, Warner Bros. shares a new image from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, providing a new look at Hèra in action. Check out the new image below:

The image provides a new look at the film’s animation style, which is distinctly anime, in addition to teasing how Hèra will appear in action. Interestingly, the background environment behind Hèra appears to have been rendered in a more photo-real approach.

The War Of The Rohirrim Will Be An Interesting Change Of Pace For The Lord Of The Rings

Hèra Is The Franchise’s First Female Protagonist In A Feature Film

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies and J.R.R. Tolkien’s books feature a handful of female characters, several of whom play important roles in the narrative. Éowyn (Miranda Otto), for example, fights alongside her male companions in the Battle of Pelennor Fields and deals the epic killing blow to the Witch-king. There’s no denying, however, that The Lord of the Rings has historically been a saga dominated mostly by male characters, and even Éowyn, a supporting character, is relatively light on actual depth outside of her love for Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen).

Otto reprises her role as Éowyn for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim , serving as the movie’s narrator.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power focuses mostly on Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), but the upcoming anime will really be the first time a female protagonist takes center stage in a theatrical feature film. As was revealed in a report on The War of the Rohirrim last month, the central conflict of the film actually begins because Hèra rejects a marriage proposal. After being thrust into a leadership role as the war rages, Hèra, who also has the ability to communicate with the Great Eagles, is said to rally the support of a mysterious tribe of all-female warriors.

Clearly, The War of the Rohirrim is attempting to explore Middle-earth through a new perspective, and this could make for an interesting shake-up for the franchise. Of course, accompanying this new perspective, the anime film will also feature many franchise hallmarks, including grand battles, fantasy creatures, and some familiar locations. Many questions remain about The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, but Hèra is certainly set to bring a new energy to the world of Middle-earth.