Last month Martin Freeman (who’s playing Bilbo in both Hobbit movies) let it slip that his “Sherlock” co-star Benedict Cumberbatch had been cast in The Hobbit, but he didn’t say which role Scarfy McBritishChap — er, I mean “Benedict Cumberbatch” — would be playing. At the time rumors said Benedict Cumberbatch would play Bard the Bowman (AKA Bard the Grim). Now Deadline reports Benedict Cumberbatch (I’m going to type this name as often as possible) will instead be voicing Smaug the Dragon, whom Gandalf and the Hobbits (cool band name alert) set out to rob of an enormous treasure. Benedict Cumberbatch will also be voicing the Necromancer, who later became Sauron . . . this should not require a spoiler alert.
As for the Bard the Bowman character, an actor has finally been found for the role. Deadline also reports the role will be played by Welsh actor Luke Evans (Three Musketeers, Robin Hood, Clash of the Titans, Immortals). Bard the Bowman is a skilled archer and the heir of King Girion of Dale who was killed by Smaug the Dragon (also shouldn’t be a spoiler). Evans will have a bigger role in the second film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again. From the sound of it, they might be pushing the boss battle with Smaug into the second movie. Furthermore, Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Cumberbatch.