How would have Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit looked as a duology?

The introduction of Bolg and Azog

Perhaps one of the major deviations in PJ’s two-movie version would have been differences with the “orc hunting” sub-plot. Initially the plan involved a later introduction of Azog, and different roles for both him and especially Bolg. The scene with Fili and Kili teasing Bilbo about orcs would have been much shorter and would not have included the Azanulbizar flashback.

It seems that when Thorin’s company was attacked outside Rivendell we would have been lead to believe they had by-chance encountered a prowling pack of orcs lead by Stephen Ure’s Fimbul. The Azog flashback at Weathertop did not come into being until after the trilogy split.

Material from An Unexpected Journey’s B-roll footage with Gandalf exclaiming “orcs… hide!” as the company seemingly takes shelter until their enemies depart also suggests a previously more suspenseful entrance into Rivendell. Azog’s name would not be mentioned until the encounter with the Goblin King (something originally set to follow Gandalf’s excursion into the High Fells, helping establish the growing menace of the Necromancer). And the reveal that the Pale Orc (John Rawls in prosthetics) was alive and pursuing the Company was to occur in the Out of the Frying Pan sequence -– meaning viewers would not encounter Azog until Bilbo did.

Thorin and Azog’s confrontation was meant to be much simpler. According to the An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition commentary, the Eagles swooped in to save Thorin immediately after he was knocked down. Bilbo was not forced to leap forward and defend the Dwarf lord. The scene on the Carrock where Erebor is espied in the distance as Thorin and Bilbo reconcile seems to have been part of the last-minute reshoots after the switch to a trilogy.

Events around and within Mirkwood

Balin narrating Azanulbizar was to have occurred at Beorn’s house, perhaps with Bilbo asking about the orc chieftain that had attacked them and Beorn mentioning his backstory concerning Azog. Initially, it seems that the Pale Orc was to have pursued the Company through the Woodland Realm — footage of motion-capture from the March 2013 preview of The Desolation of Smaug, along with Azog’s presence during the barrel scene in DOS marketing, suggests this was a late change.

After Gandalf left the Company at Mirkwood’s edge, he was to encounter a hulking Bolg (Conan Stevens in prosthetics) in Dol Guldur, where he would realised that both Bolg and his progenitor were serving the Necromancer. Evidently, Azog was always the hunter of the dwarves (not returning to Dol Guldur from outside Beorn’s house, but rather much later in the story), while Bolg was not included in the dwarf hunt at all, but rather was intended as Sauron’s servant in Dol Guldur).

Based on supplementary material and his prominence in marketing material, Fimbul was originally slated to be a significant villain. Instead, Yazneg — a character who did not exist until the late re-shoots on Film 1 — took Fimbul’s place as Azog’s lieutenant in the trilogy. And more of Fimbul’s role may have been assigned to Bolg and/or Narzug in Film 2.

As the dwarves entered Mirkwood, the writers planned to include events from the novel such as Bombur’s dip in the Enchanted River, and Thorin attempting to shoot the White Stag. This may (or may not) be included in the Extended Edition of The Desolation of Smaug). Concerning the Wood-elves: originally, according to Orlando Bloom, Tauriel and Legolas had a “brother and sister” relationship rather than being involved in a “romantic triangle” with Kili -– though their scenes in the two-film version were probably largely similar.

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