While normally all the cast of a film is announced before filming begins, with a shoot as gargantuan as The Hobbit – which is going on for about a year – it’s not too surprising some cast members are being announced after the two-part adaptation has started going in front of the camera. Luke Evans has been announced for the films, while Benedict Cumberbatch has been officially confirmed after Martin Freeman let slip he’d be in the movies last month.
According to Deadline, Luke Evans, star of Clash Of The Titans and the upcoming Three Musketeers and The Raven, will be Bard the Grim, an expert archer, who is also the heir to King Grion of Dale’s throne. The character will mostly be seen in the second movie, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, and it’s said that the character will be reminiscent of Viggo Mortensen’s Aragon in Lord of the Rings.
Deadline separately revealed what Cumberbatch would be up to, and while some had wondered whether he’d be Bard (seeing as that was one of the few major roles left), it turns out he’ll actually be voicing the dragon Smaug, who Bilbo and his band of dwarves, go up against. Apparently they want to motion-capture the role, although quite how they’re going to translate human movement into that of a giant dragon is anyone’s guess. Presumably Peter Jackson knows what he’s doing though. Bill Nighy has been rumoured for Smaug, but it’s Cumberbatch who has the role.
That’s not his only job though, as he’ll be voicing Necromancer. While we won’t say too much about that character, he does have a bit of history in Middle Earth, although under a different name. It suggests that while it’s probably a small role, Jackson plans to explain what happens with Necromancer, so that it ties in with Lord Of The Rings.