Updated 04/12/2014

Peter Jackson has a penchant for British thespians and BBC drama serials so signing top toff totty Benedict Cumberbatch to provide voice and motion for The Hobbit’s dragon Smaug was hardly a surprise.

More intriguing is Cumberbatch confessing to his role as “The Necromancer”, who – as Rings fans know – is non-other than Big Bad Sauron himself.

Jackson originally intended to reveal Sauron’s face – as Annatar, his Elvish-guise – during a dual with Aragorn towards the end of The Return Of The King. The footage was considered too confusing and distracting and only made it as far as the DVD extras (you can watch it below).

Now, with a distinctly Elvish-looking actor properly cast and the last film in The Hobbit trilogy leading Gandalf towards a confrontation with The Necromancer in Dol Guldur, Tolkien fans had better prepare themselves to stare Middle-earth’s ultimate evil in the eye.

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=32799

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