Stephen Colbert took the stage at the panel for The Hobbit at Comic-Con and gave the audience a pleasant surprise.

Image via Twitter fromVariety

According to The Wrap, the panel was being hosted by Chris Hardwicke, who announced to the crowd that he would be giving the space to someone better. Naturally, upon learning that Hardwicke would no longer be the host, the audience showed disappointment, which quickly turned into delight after seeing Colbert come out.

Colbert, who mentioned that he's a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's work and even joked about being a geek, came dressed as a lake-town spy, which is what his cameo role will be in the film.

Before taking the stage, Colbert appeared on video, saying, “I cant believe I get to do this.”

“Rumor came to us that director Peter Jackson would be making an adaptation of the trilogy, and at the time many of us knew him for adaptation of ‘Heavenly Creatures,'” Colbert continued.
“The only problem as I saw it, with a total running time of 11 ½ hours, they were too damn short.”

Variety 's Comic-Con live blog revealed that the person on stage with Colbert was his son.