Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service is one of the year's surprise hits. The amped-up spy comedy opened head-to-head with box office behemoth 50 Shades of Grey and stood tall, scoring $36.2 million over the three-day Valentine's Day weekend and raking in $400 million in global box office to date. Now, per The Wrap, a sequel is officially in the works at 20th Century Fox.
This doesn't come as much of a surprise given the film's success. Vaughn has been talking about sequel possibilities since before the movie even opened, and given that the film did a fantastic job at world-building, taking viewers inside the universe of gentlemen spies, Kingsman has "franchiseability" written all over it.
Based on the Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons comic book, The Secret Service, Kingsman follows what happens when a street punk named Eggsy (Taron Egerton) is selected to take part in an exclusive training program that churns out members of a top secret international intelligence agency called Kingsman.
Kingsman also starred Colin Firth as Harry Hart, the old-school spy who took Eggsy under his wing, teaching him the ins and outs of badassery and gentlemanly behavior. While watching Firth beat the shit out of poeple was definitely a highlight of the film, Egerton was a fantastic young lead who carried the film adeptly and, in my eyes, ended up stealing the show. Mark Strong was also a standout as Merlin, the tech-savy spy who always came through in a pinch.
I'd love to see the story of these characters continue, and from the sound of it, expand to foreign territories. Back in February, Vaughn commented that his idea for the sequel involved introducing an American branch of Kingsman. It could be delightful fun to watch the culture clash between the two branches of spies. The British have always cornered the market on gentlemen spies, but what happens when James Bond has to team up with Jason Bourne? Those could be some entertaining sparks to watch fly, and I'd love to see how Vaughn would play with the tropes of American spy films.
Warning: There’s a huge Kingsman: The Secret Service spoiler beyond this point.
But what of Harry Hart? Eggsy's beloved mentor who was brutally exterminated in the first film's final act. Don't count him out. Vaughn also said recently that if the film was successful enough they'd find a way to bring him back. There's a level of ridiculousness (mushroom cloud exploding heads, anyone?) to Kingsman where bringing Harry back could work, but that would undermine the dramatic impact of the first film. Odds are we'll be seeing Harry in flashbacks, but I'd love to see them lock down another prim British actor to bust heads and play against type.
What do you think? Are you on board for a Kingsman: The Secret Service sequel? Who would you like to see as new agents? Sound off in the comments.
