Just as the superhero genre seemed to be edging ever-closer to exhaustion, a new wave of creatively energized pictures crested on the horizon and re-instilled a bit of hope. Wonder Woman crushed the box office beneath her booted heel, the Black Panther trailer is a straight banger, and Thor: Ragnarok has the distinction of also being Taika Waititi’s newest feature. The incurably clever filmmaker behind What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople is sure to bring his trademark humor and sense of antic fun to his big-leagues production, and now he’s named a pair of influences that would suggest as much.

Entertainment Weekly has run a new interview with Waititi in which he rattles off a few sources of inspiration for the look and feel of Thor’s latest adventure, and they hint at a high-energy movie that won’t take itself too seriously. Waititi chose well:

Director Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople) drew inspiration from famous illustrator Jack Kirby’s work. “I loved the kind of cosmic trippy vibe of the Thor comics,” explains Waititi. “Another influence for me was Flash Gordon. I grew up loving that movie.” Further cementing the differences from previous Thor films, Waititi even had a dream composer for Ragnarok. Reveals the director, “I’ve often said if Freddie Mercury were alive, I would have asked Queen to do the soundtrack. It just has that feel: it’s a cool bold, colorful cosmic adventure. And it just needed to be fun.”

I do worry about his specific naming of Queen, however. It been just over a year since we lived through the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ trailer for Suicide Squad. But we’ll trust you, Waititi. Ayer doesn’t know Freddie like you do. Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters November 3.