During New York Comic-Con (NYCC), “The King’s Man” director/co-writer Matthew Vaughn gave some insight into the espionage-fueled universe. He also revealed the next installment, “The Traitor King,” will be about the rise of Adolf Hitler.
The 2021 film, “The King’s Man” was a prequel to the events of 2015’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service.” Focused on how the secret organization tasked with protecting the world was created. And how a deep bond between a man and his son was at the heart of the agency’s founding.
But Vaughn envisioned telling this story as a tv series, not a movie. “The King’s Man was originally meant to be a tv series and I got persuaded to make it as a film,” he told Collider. “What we wanted to do was something like ‘The Crown’ but with espionage and a bit of a Kingsman hit going through all of the decades.”
Despite this change of plans, the film did earn $126 million at the worldwide box office. This is no small feat considering the COVID-19 pandemic still deeply affected theatrical attendance. Vaughn also used a post-credits scene in “The King’s Man” to set up the “The Traitor King.” The sequence features David Kross playing one of history’s greatest villains, Hitler.
“The next one it’s it is about the rise of Hitler, and how Hitler did come to power and basically was supported by the English aristocracy,” Vaughn explained. He also revealed they’ve “written it and it’s pretty cool.” All while noting that time period is eerily familiar to current events.
“So I was like, ‘well that’s interesting’ and how the world was worrying so much about Communism, that Fascism rose up,” he said. “And I look at the world at the moment, everyone getting distracted and worrying about this [and that] and if you worry too much about [this] bad things can happen here. So it is a story that I think needs to be recalled. We’re calling it The Traitor King.”
However he still isn’t sure if the latest addition to the universe will be a television series or another movie. Vaughn is also deciding what projects to prioritize following the end of the strikes. He has already confirmed “Kingsman 3” and a “Kick-Ass” franchise reboot are coming.
We’ll keep you posted about updates for “The Traitor King” and “Kick-Ass” as they become available.
