The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hasn’t even opened yet, but here we have the first official image from the third Hobbit movie, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly:

Legolas isn’t in the book, but it makes sense for him to feature in the expanded version of the tale that Peter Jackson is weaving. Jackson explains:

“He’s [elven king] Thranduil’s son, and Thranduil is one of the characters in The Hobbit. And because elves are immortal it makes sense Legolas would be part of the sequence in the Woodland Realm.”

As for Bard’s role in the movies, Writer/producer Philippa Boyens explains:

“Bard is an interesting character, but [in the book] he’s kind of a random character who comes in after the fact. We take more time introducing him. We know from what follows that he was a father, so we [explore] that. I don’t think we take liberties, because it’s all there in the storytelling.”

The Hobbit: There and Back Again will release on July 18, 2014