Moviegoers are preparing to see Lee Pace take up the role of The Hobbit's Thranduil, but Pace has a far more villainous role to play in The Guardians of the Galaxy.

Set to appear as the Ronan the Accuser in the 2014 outing, Pace will be portraying the film's big bad. While director James Gunn recently confirmed that the overarching Marvel story of Thanos will be addressed in some form during Guardians, Pace's character will be the main force of evil for the galactic superheroes.

 

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"Thanos is a character in our movie. He's the main sort of... He works with Ronan," Gunn cryptically told Crave Online. "In my movie Ronan works for Thanos, and Ronan is the main bad guy in our film."

Pace appears to be excited to encounter a character that is so opposite from his recent work as the Elvenking Thranduil (Legolas's father) in Hobbit trilogy, most notably the upcoming Desolation of Smaug.

"The characters couldn't be more different! I remember walking on set [of 'Guardians of the Galaxy'], and I was like 'Very un-elfy, right guys?'" Pace told SciFiNow. "[Ronan] is a real psychopathic beast. I'm having the best time playing it. I kept looking over at James Gunn when we were shooting, 'Too much? Should I pull back?' He's like 'No, more, go for it!'"

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Guardians fans can get a glimpse at one of the films other villains, The Collector (Benicio Del Toro), in the Thor: The Dark World mid-credits scene (see video below).

Guardians of the Galaxy will hit theaters Aug. 1 while The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is due out Dec. 13.

Tags: Guardians Of The Galaxy Marvel Movies