When Marvel announced the stellar cast for Thor: Ragnarok last month, there were plenty of reasons to be excited. Not only was it finally confirmed that Cate Blanchett was a part of the cast and that she would be playing Hela, but it was also confirmed that the fantastic Tessa Thompson had been confirmed as Valkyrie. Those confirmations alone were worth celebrating, but then Marvel surprised everyone and announced that Jeff Goldblum had joined the cast as the Grandmaster. Of course, prior to this announcement the actor had teased the possibility of joining a superhero film, but his casting in Ragnarok somehow managed to slip past the trades and stay a secret until the press release hit. Something that doesn’t typically happen these days, especially when it comes to Marvel casting news. So to say fans blew up at the announcement of Goldblum’s casting would be putting it lightly.

But as it turns out, fans are not the only ones excited to see Goldblum enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe. During a recent interview with the folks over at Empire Magazine, Goldblum talked about his excitement over the role, and how he’s currently doing plenty of research and absorbing as much as he can prior to the start of production. As to what we can expect regarding his character and what we can expect from Goldblum, the actor promises that he’s working on making the character his own under the instruction of director Taika Waititi.

“He’s a hedonist, a pleasure-seeker,” explains Goldblum, “an enjoyer of life and tastes and smells. I thought, ‘I can do that, I’ll bet!’ I’m working on my part every day. I’m a sponge, researching.” He’s putting his unique Goldblum stamp on the role, too. “[Taika Waititi] is encouraging me to improvise and make it my own, and that’s what I’m trying to do. I hope he doesn’t throw me out on the first day!”

Concerning how long we can expect him to film his part of the film, Goldblum let it slip that he’s scheduled to work about “three weeks” to a “month” and that this will be his first time working on a project in Australia. (You’ll recall that news first broke that the film would set up shop in Australia back in October.)

Goldblum revealed that he’ll be filming for “three weeks or a month” in Brisbane. “Not only Chris Hemsworth, Cate Blanchett, Anthony Hopkins… jeez, that’s gonna be fun. I’ve never been to Australia except to do these little publicity things.”

Interestingly enough, there was a bit more Thor: Ragnarok news to hit the web today alongside Goldblum’s comments. While it was initially reported that Ragnarok would kick off production this month, it appears that the start date has been pushed back a bit to July. In a video announcement made by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Marvel Studios executive David Maisel, they confirmed that Ragnarok is set to begin production on July 4th at Village Roadshow Studios.

Principal photography on Chris Hemsworth’s next Marvel blockbuster, Thor: Ragnarok, will begin on the Gold Coast on July 4. The Phase 3 sequel will be based at Village Roadshow Studios for the duration of the shoot, expected to continue through until late-October. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Marvel Studios executive David Maisel announced the date in a video released to The Bulletin. “We opened the offices in Gold Coast about three months ago and we start principal photography in Gold Coast Australia on Thor: Ragnarok on July 4 and we’ll be shooting there through to late October,” Mr Maisel said.

Thor: Ragnarok is set to hit movie theaters on November 4th, 2017.

As always, for all things Ragnarok be sure to follow along here!

Sources: Empire Magazine and Adelaide Now.