UPDATE: The photos have been removed at the request of Warner Bros.
One of the parts of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug that fans are looking forward to most is where Bilbo and his companions meet Beorn the Shapeshifter. There’s been much speculation as to how Jackson and his crew were going to handle this infamous character and much concern over them being able to pull it off in a satisfactory fashion.
While we still have a little while to wait to see the character in action, what we do have today is a first look at him through a low-res still. He’s not exactly what I pictured when I was reading the book, but I’m hesitant to pass judgment this early on. For those who aren’t familiar with Beorn, Tolkien’s description of him from the novel is as follows:
Beorn was of immense size and strength for a man, and retained his size and strength in bear-form. He had black hair (in either form) and a thick black beard and broad shoulders (in human form). While not a “giant” outright, Beorn’s human form was of such great size.
Looking at this picture, he doesn’t exactly seem to be a giant, nor do we see much evidence of a beard (though that could be because of the low quality of the picture). In fact, this looks more like a Beorn who’s into 80s punk rock, but as I’ve said many times, I have a lot of faith in Jackson and his crew to get things right. For all we know, this is just one of his forms, so I don’t really see any reason to be concerned as of yet. Hopefully another trailer will drop in the coming months giving us a clearer look at him, or at the very least we’ll probably see a clearer still well before the movie arrives.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug hits theaters on December 13th.
What do you think of Beorn’s look? Does he look anything like you imagined?
Check out the still below and let us know what you think in the comments!
(Source: Comic Book Movie)