Hollywood Popular Artists

Oct 4th 2013, 14:49, by Kevin P. Sullivan

Of the sights Tolkien fans have been eagerly waiting to see in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," Beorn might be chief among them. The enormous shapeshifter has always been a fan favorite, mostly because he's a huge guy that can turn into a bear if he wants, and he's been noticeably absent from the marketing campaigns, which has been surprisingly liberal with looks at Smaug.

Then there were the leaked photos from an officially licensed calendar that depicted Beorn as sort of a wild man meets 80s hair metal guitarist, and fans weren't exactly pleased, with most hoping that the early look didn't accurately reflect Beorn.

Now a new image of the Beorn has gone online (via TheOneRing.net), confirming the hairsprayed look for the character.

Take a look after the jump!

Yeah, that's not great.

To be fair, we will have to see Beorn in action before making our final judgment, but the problem here is that he just doesn't look cool. It's an odd complaint to make, but the overall aesthetic of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" was more geared toward the cartoonish and away from the badass of "The Lord of the Rings."

This design for Beorn definitely falls in line with what we saw in the first film of the trilogy, resembling some of the sillier designs for the dwarves.

But then again, this is Beorn, and Beorn is inherently awesome. As reluctant as we are to embrace the design for the character, we're just going to focus on our love for him in general and remain excited for "The Desolation of Smaug."

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" opens in theaters on December 13.

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