WHAT? NO! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE
THERE AND BACK AGAIN!
If my memory of the novel is serving me correctly (it's been awhile since I've read it), the Five Armies are the Men of Lake-Town, the Dwarves (both the quest company and the other lands' Dwarves, most notably the Iron Hills ones), the Mirkwood Elves, the Goblins, and the Dol Guldur Orcs.
Of course the only other Hobbit thing I've been exposed to in the last year aside from these was when I found and rewatched my old VHS of the '78 (I think it was '78) animated one, and that one was crazy inaccurate to the book.
Hobbit is bloated, I've never read the book, but I can tell Smaug was just hammering in "WATCH LOTR THIS IS IMPORTANT" everytime Gandalf does his sidequest....
Which leaves a giant plot-hole, if Gandalf and crew knew Saron was on the rise, why did everyone just drop their shit for 50 years? makes no sense.
If Jackson just followed the book things would be alot better.
Yeah, but while book-accurate film adaptations would undoubtedly be great for those of use who are familiar with said books...it kind of shafts people who are new to the series. You can either have book-accurate films that are hours and hours long (The Stand, anyone? Dune, anyone?), or you can have a few changes here and there to fit a more reasonable time.
But people are going to bitch regardless of which one is picked -
Wah, it's too long! Wah, it's not accurate! - anyway, so it's pretty stupid either way.
Honestly, I fail to see the harm in expanding upon existing characters to make them a little bit more believable and sometimes relatable, especially in instances like the Necromancer; who only had a couple of mentions in the book and isn't revealed to be Sauron until the LotR novella. Oh, shit, Azog's not dead and Bolg's not his kid anymore? Oh golly, Thorin has more inflection and inner turmoil due to being hunted by a bitter rival and coping with the infatuation with the treasure hoard? Wait a minute, why is Gandalf explaining his motives? Wizards aren't supposed to justify things because they just don't give a fuck, why would he explain himself to the people he's stuck with for a year plus? Oh, no, the movie Orcs are more violent than the book Orcs, because The Hobbit is a children's story with absolutely no mature concepts or thought-evoking parallels to our own world!
Yeesh.
What's next, people getting their knickers in a twist because Jackson removed William's talking purse and because Tauriel didn't exist in the book (aw shit, creative liberty, run away)? Too many people are far too engrossed in petty detailing that anything that divulges from their personal idea of perfection is an unnecessary addition;
especially if that addition just might actually add a little more
depth to otherwise simple (and frankly, rather bland) characters.
Besides, I much prefer the current Company of Dwarves to the book's. Variety and uniqueness is a lot better than a bunch of colorful hoods and oddly-colored beards, IMO.
And Tauriel/Killi works. Fuck you uppity purists and those sticks in your asses. WHAT, AN ELF CAN'T BE WITH A DWARF?! IT'S NOT ABOUT RACE, DAMMIT!
/rant
I would have loved to see Del Toro's art style in the LOTR universe.
It's certainly be something to potentially see he and John Howe collaborate on something like this.