Director Peter Jackson has made the last major casting announcement for his t adaptation of The Hobbit, and one of the new announcements is causing a bit of a stir.

Jackson announced that LOST star Evangeline Lilly has been cast as Tauriel, a Woodland Elf whose name means “daughter of Mirkwood.” Jackson shares his excitement in Lilly being the one who will “bring our first true Sylvan Elf to life,” but says the character is a new one, leading many to wonder why the director would add a new character to J.R.R. Tolkien‘s classic tale.

If you’ll recall, this project was originally planned as one movie based on The Hobbit and a second that would be completely original and bridge the story to Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was ultimately decided to just turn The Hobbit into a two-part film instead of risking faithful fans not reacting positively to an original story, but that hasn’t stopped Jackson from bringing back actors from LOTR to reprise their roles””even if they weren’t part of the earlier book””and now creating this new elven character. Of course, the Woodland elves are part of Middle Earth, and so just because Tauriel may not have been mentioned in the book, it doesn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t part of what was going on at certain points.

In addition to Lilly, Jackson also announced that Barry Humphries will join Andy Serkis (Gollum) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Smaug/Necromancer) as actors who will use performance capture to bring a character to life. Humphries will be playing the role of the Goblin King.

The Australian actor isn’t all that well-known here in the States, but he is a very seasoned talent. He may, in fact, be most recognizable by his vocal talents””Humphries played the great white shark known as Bruce in Pixar’s Finding Nemo, and narrated 2009’s Mary & Max.

I personally am quite all right with Peter Jackson adding his own personal touch to The Hobbit with returning stars and new characters””so long as the story’s score stays faithful, I think the director has beyond earned our trust in his delicate treatment of Tolkien’s world.

That said, not everyone will agree. What do all of you think about these little tweaks to the cast and characters of The Hobbit? Are you willing to see how Jackson presents it before deciding, or are the moves too bold?

[Source: Facebook]