“The world is reacting to Godzilla in the same way we would react to any other terrifying incident, in that we are overreacting,” says Dougherty, whose previous credits include the horror movie Krampus. Godzilla hasn’t been seen since that destructive finale, “but there’s paranoia and endless speculation about whether he is the only one out there or whether we’re threatened by others like his kind.”

King of the Monsters makes it enormously clear that there are other big beasts, notably the three-headed King Ghidorah, the giant insect Mothra, and another flying monster, Rodan, who in the original Japanese movies could create hurricane-force winds.

“Rodan’s been kind of a sidekick character, but I’ve always had a soft spot for him” says Dougherty. “In a lot of ways he’s more powerful than Godzilla. He’s like this winged A-bomb. I think we’ve done him justice.” But let’s not forget Godzilla himself, who reveals he has the ability to exhale “atomic breath.” Can Dougherty expand on that description? “Not without giving away too much,” he laughs. “But it takes place at a very key moment and it’s a sort of call to arms.”