Benedict Cumberbatch hints at what Smaug’s introduction will look like in The Hobbit

Between SHERLOCK and STAR TREK 2, it is easy to forget that Benedict Cumberbatch is also going to be in THE HOBBIT films. With THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY opening in just a few months, the questions are beginning to flow as to when Cumberbatch will make his first appearance as Smaug the dragon.

Cumberbatch was asked that question recently and he shared the following hint: “I think my eye might open at the end of the first film and then you’ll get the rest of me in the second.”

That seems close to how Gollum was introduced in THE LORD OF THE RINGS via a quick glimpse followed by the full reveal in THE TWO TOWERS. But, will this be altered at all by the addition of the third HOBBIT film? My impression was that Peter Jackson would be adding material after THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN, but it never occurred to me that he may re-edit the other films as well.

For now, we can expect to catch that glimpse at the end of THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY when it opens on December 14th and the full reveal in December 2013.