Call it the Knives Out Effect. In the wake of the breakout success of the Rian Johnson-directed original film, this notoriously copycat film industry has suddenly greenlit murder-mysteries galore and we’re totally here for it. But that also includes Johnson’s own Knives Out sequel (which will not be called Knives Out 2 because that was an extremely story-specific title and makes no sense for another movie entirely, this has been my TED Talk), which features its own ensemble of heavy-hitters.

And that’s not the only area where it matches up with the first film, if star Dave Bautista is to be believed.

Bautista sat down with People.com to talk about how the sequel measures up to and even surpasses the original:

“I really think it’s going to be as good, if not better, than the first one. I’m always afraid to say that because I don’t want anybody to get offended saying that we’re going to be better, but I really do think this. I think the characters are just so much more colorful. I think people are really going to dig this.

Shots fired! Cue the onslaught of breathless, “Dave Bautista Trashes Original Knives Out Movie” headlines! Begun, the Knives Out wars have! Okay, we’re very much just kidding, obviously.

Bautista is a gentleman and is clearly feeling passionate about what they’ve got cooking with the sequel. Making any movie — let alone one that manages to be great, become widely loved, and make enough of a killing at the box office to justify sequels — is nothing short of a herculean task and we would be lucky indeed if lightning manages to strike twice here. The actor goes even further and breaks down what specifically has him so excited. Spoiler alert: it all comes down to character:

“The characters are just so great. They’re so different. Everybody’s cast so well. I was working with a couple of my castmates and was mesmerized by their performances and just how well they’ve adapted into these characters. I think the characters in this are even more quirky than the first one.”

Rian Johnson Knives Out set

Everybody Loves Rian

This should come as no surprise to anyone who’s a fan of Rian Johnson’s previous movies. One of the intangibles I loved about Knives Out was its balance between a watertight script, purposeful direction, and sheer star power that came together and added up to something even more than the sum of its (already impressive) parts. That alchemy is difficult to quantify and can’t be easily replicated, but we’re confident that Johnson will continue to weave his magic with the sequel. After all, there’s a pretty good reason that half of Hollywood’s stars seems to want to work on these movies with him.

While location shooting in Greece has just recently wrapped, there’s still more weeks of hard work to go before production will be complete. The absolutely ridiculous cast boasts Bautista, Daniel Craig, Kate Hudson, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Ethan Hawke, and more. Both this and the following sequel are set for an exclusive Netflix release.

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