海角大神

For those (isolated pockets of people) not overly familiar with the world of author J.R.R. Tolkien 鈥� who only know his name in association with the movie trilogy 鈥� then director Peter Jackson鈥檚 upcoming prequel trilogy,聽, will be something of a mystery. In short explanation, The Hobbit聽chronicles the adventures of Bilbo Baggins 鈥� the elderly uncle of Frodo Baggins in Lord of the Rings - and the epic adventure which he embarked upon that would, in part, alter the fate of Middle-Earth, and inspire Frodo鈥檚 mission to destroy the evil ring of Sauron.

In The Hobbit, however, the evil foe is not Sauron, but rather Smaug, an evil and ancient dragon who lays claim to the treasure-filled mountain of Erebor (aka, the Lonely Mountain). With , fans have long questioned just how much Smaug we will get in each installment. Today we have an answer to that question.

WARNING!!! HOBBIT聽SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!

Sherlock (BBC) star聽Benedict Cumberbatch is poised for a big (bad) Hollywood breakout: He will be playing the villain in and will also provide the voice of Smaug in The Hobbit. (Fans also want to see him play a comic book movie character 鈥� such as in the upcoming film from Edgar Wright.)

While doing an interview with Anne Richardson, Cumberbatch dropped a somewhat considerable spoiler about when and where we might be seeing Smaug show up in The Hobbit trilogy.

Final chance if you want to AVOID THE SPOILER!!!

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As quoted from Richardson鈥檚 interview, via聽:

I think my eye might open at the end of the first film and then you鈥檒l get the rest of me in the second.

WARNING!!! HOBBIT STORY SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!聽

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For those who know The Hobbit book, this quote from Cumberbatch (which came before the films were turned into a trilogy) hints at a pretty clear division of events between the three films:

The first movie, An Unexpected Journey, will introduce the main characters 鈥� Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the company of dwarves who accompany them 鈥� detailing their journey to the Lonely Mountain, and all the perils faced along the way.

The second film, There and Back Again聽(which could be re-titled), will likely cover the battle for Lake-town and the Lonely Mountain, the eventual death of Smaug, the stand-off between the Dwarves, elves and men over the treasures of the聽mountain, and the rise of goblin/Warg threat.

What is still unclear (in terms of specifics) is whether or not the epic 鈥渂attle of the five armies鈥� for control of the Lonely Mountain will be the climax of the second film, or a major set piece of the third. However, we do know that the latter part of the third film will use Tolkien鈥檚 epilogues and appendices from the books to construct a 鈥渂ridge鈥� between the events of聽The Hobbit聽and the events of聽Lord of The Rings, which occur approximately seventy years later.

It will be great to see the design and CGI modeling that Jackson and his impeccable effects house, Weta Workshop, have in store for Smaug; although it鈥檚 too bad that we won鈥檛 likely see much of it in the first film. Still, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey聽has PLENTY of good stuff to offer while Bilbo and Co. are making their way to the Lonely Mountain 鈥� including the return of familiar faces like the elves of Riverdale (Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett reprising their Lord of the Rings roles) and another appearance by everyone鈥檚 favorite lovable mad-man, . That鈥檚 not to mention: deadly giant spiders, goblins, Wargs, and a certain magic ring, which will one day come to be the most important object on Middle-earth鈥�

Kofi Outlaw blogs at .

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