Even though the first film in The Hobbit series hasn't been released yet, we've got the first official image from the THIRD film in the series, The Hobbit: There and Back Again (via EW).

Below you'll see Orlando Bloom reprising his role as Legolas along with the Laketown warrior Bard the Bowman, played by Luke Evans. But what is Legolas doing in this film when he wasn't in the original book?

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

And what of Bard? "Bard is an interesting character, but [in the book] he’s kind of a random character who comes in after the fact," said writer/producer Philippa Boyens. "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 first film in the series, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, will hit theaters next week in 2D, 3D, and IMAX on December 14. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will be released on December 13, 2013, and the final entry, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, will be released on July 18, 2014.

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