At long last, here’s a Deadpool 2 story that doesn’t involve casting news/rumors about who’s going to play Cable! Indeed, 20th Century Fox finally settled on Josh Brolin to fill the key role in the Deadpool sequel after months of discussions that saw folks like Brad Pitt and Michael Shannon enter the fray. Ultimately, Brolin’s the one who landed the role, and with that character as well as the new character Domino set with Atlanta actress Zazie Beets, director David Leitch and the film’s producers can now forge ahead with preparations to finally get this thing in front of cameras.

As such, now that Brolin’s landed the part of Cable, the actor is undergoing some initial prep-work that’s standard for any big blockbuster: getting a mold made of his face. Brolin shared the images of himself in the workshop chair over on Instagram, and we can see the Hail, Caesar! actor’s face covered in goo. This creates a lifelike cast of Brolin’s facial features that is then scanned into a computer, capturing the most minute details of Brolin’s face. This facial cast is not only helpful for the makeup team to prepare whatever prosthetics they’ll be putting on Brolin’s face, but is used to create a fully digitized version of Brolin’s Cable to use in action sequences.

Yes indeed, quite often in big blockbuster movies when you’re watching the heroes battle some giant robot or monster in a wide shot with some stunning acrobatics, what you’re seeing is an entirely CG-animated version of the human actors. This “digital stuntman” can not only perform feats that are either difficult or impossible for real people, but also sometimes blends more seamlessly into a shot that may be entirely made up of CG animation.

Leitch’s work in John Wick and the upcoming Atomic Blonde is certainly heavy on practical effects so I wouldn’t expect a ton of digital Brolin or Ryan Reynolds popping up, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry, and so Brolin’s banking his facial features for the team as he prepares to get physically ready for the role.

Take a look at the Instagram photos below. Deadpool 2 still doesn’t have a firm release date, but expect one to be announced sooner rather than later.