Orcs and Elves
Brian M.

Greetings Neal. I suspect that the majority of the orcs we'll see in the trilogy will look like the ones in the pictures. Tolkien's orcs are related to elves.

When Morgoth rebeled against Iluvatar, one of the powers he tried to usurp was the ability to create life, but no matter what he tried, he never succeeded in actually creating anything. As a result, he could do little more than twist what was already there, like the elves themselves. In the Silmarillion, Tolkien states that, "...all those of the Quendi who came into the hands of Melkor...were put into prison, and by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves...." (Chapter 3)

As such, in this context, I think its pretty fitting that the two races bear at least some resemblances.