Hideo Kojima's new film role is not at all what we expected, but it's somehow perfect

Hideo Kojima, who doubles as a legendary game designer and a massive cinephile, has scored a new movie role.

Now, to be totally honest, it's not at all what we expected, but somehow, it fits perfectly. Kojima will next appear on the big screen in the Japanese version of Zootopia 2 with a voice role, per Famitsu. He'll be voicing Paul Moldebrandt, who, as you might have guessed by the name, is a mole employed at the Zootopia Police Department.

"I have plenty of experience with cameo appearances in live-action films and games, but this will be my first time dubbing an animated feature film," Kojima said (via Google's automatic translate). "And it's from Disney, to my surprise!"

Kojima also revealed that co-director Jared Bush reached out to him directly for the role, and Kojima accepted immediately.

"My participation was limited to a small scene, but even at the recording stage, the level of detail was impressive. Thanks to the illustrations, the recording went smoothly. I'm usually on the directing side, so I learned a lot from actually acting. I was reminded of how much attention voice actors pay to basic things like turning pages in the script and adding noise," Kojima added.

Zootopia 2 picks up shortly after the events of the first movie, and this time unlikely buddy cop duo Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde must investigate a new conspiracy involving Ke Huy Quan's reptile Gary De'Snake.

The sequel debuted with a history-making opening weekend, scoring a $556 million total worldwide. While a third movie hasn't been confirmed, an Easter egg hidden in the film seems to confirm another is on the way (and it even hints what a threequel would be about).

You can catch Zootopia 2 in theaters now, and you can also check out our interviews with the cast and filmmakers on bringing the animal world to life and introducing reptiles to the series.