The King’s Man: 5 Things Fans Are Excited To See In The Prequel (& 5 That Make Them Nervous)

The King’s Man is the third installment of the Kingsman franchise, and is a prequel from the last two films. Director and writer Matthew Vaughn will lead again on this entry with an all-new cast of characters. It shall be set on the early 1900’s when the agency is formed to combat a criminal sect who intend to eliminate millions.

While it moved again its release to February 2021, due to reasonable circumstances, it still left reasons to be excited about the prequel (and also some reasons to be skeptical about). But rest assured for the fans, manners maketh man.

10 Excited: Origin Story of the Kingsman Agency

Matthew Vaughn plotted the next two entries of the franchise will be a prequel film set on the early 1900’s and “the third regular Kingsman film”. Originally titled Kingsman: The Great Game, the prequel will feature the early formation of the spy agency who is assigned to stop a major threat from history-based criminal masterminds.

It will be intriguing to see how the Kingsman were gathered and organized. So far, the figures to watch for are the Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), Polly (Gemma Arterton) and apprentice Conrad (Harris Dickinson).

9 Nervous: Not Much Memorable Trailer Moments

Basing from the trailers, the prequel shows a lot of promise with its historical detail, the explosive action and a reference to Harry Hart’s (Colin Firth) most notable line. However, even with those merits, it was not that much distinct to the previous Kingsman films.

The first film’s trailers highlighted the Harry-versus-barflies fight scene, the church rumble scene and Eggsy with Harry’s umbrella gun. Even The Golden Circle features its most notable moments like the Statesman element, Julianne Moore and the dancing drug toxin. Hopefully, future trailers will prove wrong.

8 Excited: Ralph Fiennes in a Lead Protagonist Role

It has been a while since Ralph Fiennes had a lead role in a movie, let alone a comedy since The Grand Budapest Hotel. He currently receives voice roles and supporting roles so far. And he no longer is a stranger to spy movies, with him as the current M for the James Bond franchise.

So, there are tons to be excited with Fiennes as the architect for Kingsman fending off bulky goons and using every weapon at his disposal. James Bond must have prepared him for the lead role.

7 Nervous: Link to the Original Characters

While it is expected that none of the original Kingsman characters will be featured here, as this is set on the early years of the 20^th century, it is indefinite how the new cast and characters will connect to the original. The only existing link is Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Lee Unwin, who is Eggsy’s father.

Speaking of, it is the logistics of the timeline that is a sudden head-scratcher. If the prequel will be set on the early 1900’s, and Lee was featured, how come Eggsy existed in the 2010’s?

6 Excited: Mix of Period Film and Action Comedy

The Kingsman films fully embrace its homages to James Bond films from past to present. So, it is a no-brainer that its prequel will mash its action-comedy elements into a period setting. There are some films in this caliber, including Inglourious Basterds, Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies and Enola Holmes.

So, it will be exciting to see this angle of the Kingsman universe wherein the early agents are involved in World War I and how they legitimatize the use of spies. And see how they can execute it as over-the-top.

5 Nervous: Reception of The Golden Circle

While it is not as fresh as the first film, Kingsman: The Golden Circle had moments of invention and fine performances to spare. But its polarizing reception really hurt the franchise’s chances to branch out seamlessly. So, the direction to create a prequel instead is questionable (to say the least).

Not only that, its excessive over-the-top action made the formula tiresome to continue. It does not help that the face of the franchise, Taron Egerton, is doubtful of it. So, that is a crutch for The King’s Man to carry.

4 Excited: Historical Revisionism a la Tarantino

The Kingsman franchise takes the Men in Black playbook and feautes several real-life figures, from President Obama to Elton John. So, the prequel ups that further by featuring figures like George V, Wilhelm II, Nicholas II and Rasputin as characters.

So, that makes one wonder if Vaughn and company will pull off a Quentin Tarantino and plot the prequel as a revisionist historical spy movie. It seems so since Rasputin (Rhys Ifans) is now a full-blown supervillain, and that the Kingsmen will take him down, instead of the British Intelligence.

3 Nervous: Prequel-itis

But as proven by recent franchise films, prequels tend to be problematic as their continuities and logistics will not tend to align with their early films. Take Star Wars with the prequel trilogy, Harry Potter with the Fantastic Beasts movies and The Lord of the Rings with The Hobbit trilogy.

Even with hopes held high, there has been less demand for The King’s Man since the history behind Kingsman’s establishment are not on top of anyone’s mind. And everyone knows that “knowing past mysteries does not make it any better”.

2 Excited: Lineage to Eggsy

With that said, if the Kingsman franchise aims to expand beyond Eggsy’s timeline, it is interesting to see the exploits done by his father Lee Unwin. As mentioned, Lee will be played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who also played the Marvel Comics Imprint character Kick-Ass and the MCU’s version of Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The scope of Lee’s role in the prequel is still unclear. But it is interesting to see where Eggsy got his combative skills and how previous Kingsmen shaped him up to the agent he is.

1 Nervous: Aimless Direction for the Franchise

The King’s Man is intended to be shot back-to-back with the third Kingsman movie, now verified as Kingsman: The Blue Blood. While that announcement increases optimism for the Harry Hart-Eggsy Unwin storyline, it does not add up to the overall optimism for the franchise’s direction.

After The Golden Circle’s release, there were reports of a Statesman spin-off and a television series. But so far, there are no developments from them other than speculation. If 20^th Century Studios intended to create a cinematic universe with Kingsman, they better put their efforts on the forthcoming King’s Man.

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