First Look at Balin and Dwalin in Peter Jackson’s THE HOBBIT

Eventually, The Hobbit will run out of dwarves.  There are only 13 that accompany Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) on the Quest of Erebor and we’ve already seen ten of them: Nori, Dori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Bofur, Bombur, and Bifur.  Now we’ve got an image of two more: Balin (Ken Stott) and Dwalin (Graham McTavish).  You may recall that in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Gimli expected that his cousin Balin would give the Fellowship a royal welcome.  That didn’t quite happen as Balin turned out to be murdered by goblins.  To add insult to injury, his tomb was smashed by a cave troll.  But since The Hobbit is a prequel, Balin and his brother Dwalin are both very much alive.

Hit the jump to check out the image and to learn more about Balin and Dwalin.  The Hobbit also stars Ian McKellen, James Nesbitt, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, and Andy Serkis.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released on December 14, 2012.  The Hobbit: There and Back Again will hit theaters on December 13, 2013.  Both movies will be in 3D.

Image via Time.

Here’s a bit more on Balin and Dwalin:

“Dwarf Lords in their own right, Balin and Dwalin are close relatives of Thorin. Beyond this, these brothers are two of his most loyal and trusted friends. An old warrior, Balin has lived through hard times and fought many battles, yet he harbors doubts about the wisdom of the Quest to retake the Lonely Mountain. Dwalin has no such forebodings – his belief in Thorin’s leadership is unshakeable. A powerful and bruising fighter, with a natural tendency to distrust anyone who is not a Dwarf, particularly anyone who might be an Elf, Dwalin is not someone to cross lightly.”