We’re getting closer and closer to the release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the second of Peter Jackon’s trilogy of films based on the beloved novel by J.J.R. Tolkien. One of the elements that had remained a mystery up until the release of the most recent trailer was the performance of Benedict Cumberbatch as the menacing dragon Smaug, who, as fans of the book will know, takes over the dwarves’ home of Erebor, along with their vast amount of treasure.
The teaser had shown us a small glimpse of what the dragon will look like in the upcoming film, but the full-length trailer gave us a small taste of the voice that Cumberbatch puts to the infamous character. Upon hearing it for the first time, it was chilling to say the least. At this point, one can only imagine how great his confrontation will play out based on that snippet of the voice alone.
The other bit of info about the character that we’ve been aware of for some time is that Cumberbatch is also providing the motion capture. Thanks to Comic Book Movie, we now have a few snaps of the actor creating the character’ movements. The first two are particularly bizarre-looking. He appears to be having a heart attack, or he’s simply delving into his inner evil dragon. Let’s hope it’s just the latter.
The other two pics show him really getting into the character. We’re so used to seeing actors standing in a studio and reading lines from a script when it comes to voicing any animated roles, but apparently Cumberbatch went all out to make Smaug as effective a villain as possible.
I have no doubt that he will deliver a memorable performance, even if it is just his voice and computer-generated movement. Cumberbatch is a fantastic actor as he’s shown time and time again in projects like Sherlock, War Horse, and Star Trek Into Darkness, where he did a marvelous job as Khan. With less than two months left to go, it won’t be too much longer before we can see how his latest endeavor turns out.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug hits theaters on December 13th.
Check out the pics below and let us know what you think in the comments!
