Warner Bros. recently premiered The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, their anime take on J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary novels. Fans were surprised to learn the late Christopher Lee returned to voice Saruman, again.

While Lee sadly died back in 2015 after decades of work as a performer, his legacy on the legacy of The Lord of the Rings is incalculable. So much so, that when the prequel anime film was announced, it was unclear how they could include the iconic wizard.

Now, we’ve learned that not only is Saruman naturally included in the story of The War of the Rohirrim, he is voiced once again by the great Christopher Lee. This wasn’t done with controversial AI to replicate Lee’s voice, rather the team used archival recordings.

The news was confirmed by screenwriter Philippa Boyens (via TheOneRing.net), who said they got the blessing to use Lee’s voice by his widow Birgit Kroencke.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is available now exclusively in theaters nationwide.