Did you catch the number of references to King Kong and his native Skull Island in the new sequel GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS?

It’s not an accident. You might not have realized it going into the movie, but Michael Dougherty’s new GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS is another chapter in the larger MonsterVerse that has been established by Warner Bros., and the other movies in the series are 2014’s GODZILLA, as well as 2017’s KONG: SKULL ISLAND.

These movies are all building toward an epic confrontation that will land in theatres on March 13, 2020, titled GODZILLA VS. KONG. That’s pretty self-explanatory. But how will these worlds connect? Before we go any further: There are details in this article that may be considered spoilers for GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, get your tickets and come back.

There are a lot of clues sprinkled throughout Dougherty’s GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS, even though King Kong doesn’t actually show his face. In the movie, an evil scientist (Vera Farmiga) and a militant ecologist (Charles Dance) try to bring about a new age by unleashing several monsters — known as Titans — so they can destroy the bulk of civilization and stimulate our planet to start over. Humanity’s only method of retaliation ends up being Godzilla, who battles other Titans like Rodan and King Ghidorah to bring ecological balance to the planet.

As a result of this work, the Titans’ activity is closely monitored by the Earth’s scientists, and one location that’s on their radar is Skull Island, where Kong has been lording over all means of monsters for decades. It is made clear in GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS that Monarch is aware of Kong’s existence (and has known of him since the 1970s). Monarch also is aware of a “Hollow Earth” theory, which suggests there are tunnels beneath the Earth’s surface that allow the Titans to travel great distances without being tracked … and Skull Island could be a portal into these tunnels.

By the end of KING OF THE MONSTERS, Godzilla has defeated King Ghidorah and is now keeping all of the Titans in check as a protector and savior for all of humanity. But in newspaper clippings that appear over the end credits for GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS, it is revealed that some of the Titans who were awakened by Ghidorah’s call are now heading to Skull Island, where it’s assumed they will team up with Kong.

Godzilla seems far more formidable than King Kong, but in a recent interview with the horror website Bloody Disgusting, Michael Dougherty reset our expectations for how this epic battle might play out.

“We’re looking at an almost David vs. Goliath situation,” Dougherty said. “Because everyone, the moment you say Godzilla’s going to fight Kong, your first reaction is, ‘Kong doesn’t stand a chance. Godzilla’s got his radioactive breath, et cetera, et cetera.’ But then if you really take the time to look at Kong as a character, it’s like, OK, in SKULL ISLAND, he was an adolescent, so he was still growing. So who knows how big he is since the 1970s when they first met him?”

“You know, it’s like watching Rocky go up against Ivan Drago,” he continued. “It seems like it’s unfair but clearly, this means the underdog might have a few surprises. Story wise, the hope is that their motivations for fighting each other are sound and not contrived. But when you have two extremely hyper-aggressive, masculine, territorial animals who both believe that they’re the rightful rulers of an entire species, chances are they’re going to do more than have afternoon tea.”

That battle will happen sooner rather than later, with GODZILLA VS. KONG punching its way into theatres on March 13, 2020. Which heavyweight do you think will prevail?