When Guillermo del Toro last spoke about ‘Pacific Rim 2,’ we learned that the sequel would feature some—but not all—of the characters from the first film, and that he wanted to have the remaining characters appear by the end as a way to (hopefully) build to a third installment. And now we have a more detailed update from the director as the sequel takes shape and prepares to enter production, including more plot specifics and at least two characters who will definitely be returning for ‘Pacific Rim 2.’

In an interview with Collider to promote the upcoming DVD release of the first season of ‘The Strain,’ del Toro confirmed that Charlie Day’s Geiszler and Burn Gorman’s Gottlieb will definitely be returning for the sequel. He also spoke specifically about the timeline of the film:

It’s a few years after the first one. It’s not an immediate follow-up. It is the world having been freed of Kaiju, what happens to the world after—what happens to the Jaeger technology once the Kaiju are not a threat.  It’s quite a jump.

As for Day and Gorman’s presence in the film and if that means we’ll be seeing more of the science side of things this time around, he responded:

Yes. It’s quite a different movie from the first one in that, but I think that two of our main characters like in the first one are Burn and Charlie. They are really, really—I mean, honestly, they are probably the guys I have the most fun writing along with Hannibal Chau so just from a purely selfish drive, I like writing them. I love writing for Charlie and Burn. I mean, [Burn's] in Crimson Peak for that reason, because I love working with him. You’re gonna get a lot of that, but the Kaijus are very different and you’re gonna see a very different type of the robots I think. It’s gonna be quite a different adventure.

Day and Gorman had excellent chemistry in the first film, so having them back for another round in the sequel should be a blast, but the more interesting note in the interview is the timeline: The sequel will feature a world where the Kaiju are no longer a threat, and it’ll be interesting to see what they do with the Jaeger tech once it’s deemed no longer essential for that specific purpose; that is, until a new Kaiju threat emerges, as they’re can’t be a sequel without another threat, and del Toro has previously promised that the sequel will feature new types of monsters.

‘Pacific Rim 2’ is currently set to hit theaters on April 7, 2017.

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