Just yesterday it was announced that Krampus director Michael Dougherty and co-writer Zach Shields are re-teaming with Legendary Pictures to pen the screenplay for Godzilla 2, the follow-up to Gareth Edwards’ blockbuster monster flick. We’ve known for some time that Edwards isn’t returning to helm the sequel, and with the Rogue One director out of the picture, we’ve been curious to see who might take his place. As it turns out, Dougherty isn’t just writing Godzilla 2 — he’s also directing it.

Update: Another source has reached out to let us know that Dougherty is in talks to helm Godzilla 2. No deal has officially been made as of yet, and will depend on Legendary’s approval of the screenplay.

Sources close to production have revealed that Dougherty is likely directing Godzilla 2, which will lead up to the previously reported King Kong and Godzilla crossover film. Kong: Skull Island hits theaters next March, followed by the Godzilla sequel in 2019 and Godzilla vs. Kong in 2020. Execs at Legendary are said to be quite fond of the Krampus director, who also helmed the 2007 cult horror favorite Trick ’r Treat and worked on screenplays for Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns and X2.

We were unable to confirm if Dougherty and Shields will use any of Gareth Edwards’ original ideas for Godzilla 2, which would have featured Mechagodzilla — a monster that first appeared in the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Initially introduced as an extraterrestrial foe, Mechagodzilla was later depicted as a weapon created by man to defend Japan from the legendary lizard.

As Variety noted in their own report, Dougherty and Shields might also be the first step toward Legendary’s creation of a new writers room to handle their shared monster universe — a scenario that’s not unlikely given that similar teams have been established for the Transformers franchise and Universal’s own upcoming monster movie universe.