TheOneRing.net's official Facebook page has posted our first look at the Necromancer in The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies, which brings this beloved Middle Earth trilogy to a close on December 17. The image comes from the upcoming companion book The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Official Movie Guide.

In 2012's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and last year's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, this mysterious Necromancer was haunting Dol Guldur, which we have come to learn is actually Sauron, before he took his form as a giant flaming eye in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Benedict Cumberbatch is voicing the Necromancer/Sauron in The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies, who is seen in this image holding what is believed to be one of the Palantír seeing stones, which is used to tempt Saruman. Take a look at this image below, and stay tuned for more images and footage as we get closer to The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies's release on December 17.