Lee Pace has made a big leap from shy pie-maker in Pushing Daisies to Thranduil, the imperious king of Mirkwood in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. This first image of Pace as Legolas’ royal father shows that this is a man who doesn’t shy away from silver, from the tips of his branch-like crown to his shimmering raiment. Minor spoilers within.
Flickr user BexlinJ uploaded this with a handful of other publicity stills from The Hobbit movies. For the most part, the stills are more of what we’ve already seen from Thorin Oakenshield and his loyal dwarven followers, but the Thranduil image gives us a peek at something new.
I’m a bit surprised that the first image we’re seeing of Thranduil isn’t in more earthy tones, given that the Mirkwood elves are the Wood Elves. But with the sword drawn, perhaps we’re seeing a battle-ready king, dressed in silvery mail (as EmmRoss notes in the comments, Mithril). The accompanying text offers some hint of the dwarf-elf dynamic we can expect in the movies, although for the most part, the information stays pretty close to what we know about Thranduil and Mirkwood from the original book.
So does Thranduil match what you expected? After Hugo Weaving’s Elrond, Pace has a lot to live up to on the elven king front.
Thandruil [BexlinJ via Gamma Squad]
