Actor-Comedian Billy Connolly joins the cast of Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated film The Hobbit. Adapted from J.R.R. Tokien’s books of the same name, The Hobbit serves as a prequel to the Lord of the Rings series which Jackson also directed.

The Hobbit which has been split into two films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again are currently in production and being shot back-to-back in New Zealand.

Connolly is known for his roles in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Last Samurai and of course as Il Duce; the one man army; in The Boondock Saints. In the Hobbit, he will play the role of Dain Ironfoot, the warrior dwarf who is lord of all dwarves and second cousin to Thorin Oakenshield; maybe he’ll even become crowned King under the Mountain one day after Oakenshield.

Director Peter Jackson welcomed this news of Connolly bringing the firefight to Middle-earth:

“We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connelly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of ‘The Hobbit’ is now complete. We can’t wait to see him on the Battlefield!”

Connolly’s presence as a warrior will be greeted with just as much excitement as other notable members of this eclectic cast.

There’s the healing aura of Sylvester McCoy who is known for his role as the seventh Doctor in the Doctor Who series; The last lead to have his face in the Doctor Who opening titles. McCoy will play the role of Radagast the Brown, a member of the order of wizards specializing in animal lore.

Aidan Turner; the non-sparkly vampire from the original U.K. version of “Being Human”; will be playing the role of Kili. Kili is one of the nephews to Oakenshield and is one of the youngest Dwarves in the Company who is always seen with his brother Fili.

The central role of Bilbo Baggins will be played Martin Freeman; Arthur Dent in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Dr. John Watson on the BBC show of Sherlock.

Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey from the Lord of the Rings trilogy; which is just another overpowered character that Mckellen plays like Dumbledore and Magneto.

I knew that the Hobbit was coming out but I never took a look at the cast until now. Even if we were to remove the Tolkien Fantasy element; a most appropriately used description; a handful of the cast alone generates so much geek cred that it could band together to defeat Peter Jackson’s ego once and for all.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is slated to be released beginning December 14, 2012. The second film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is planned for release the following year, beginning December 13, 2013.

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