Summary

  • Director Jeff Wadlow details his journey ing the Kick-Ass 2 production and the challenges he faced working with the returning cast and crew.
  • Vaughn's Kick-Ass reboot trilogy, beginning with School Fight, shows a new generation taking up the hero's mantle.
  • Despite the mixed critical reception, Kick-Ass 2's success has paved the way for a new creative direction with the potential return of beloved characters.

Kick-Ass 2 director Jeff Wadlow opens up about how he ed the production of the superhero sequel and the filming difficulties. The 2013 sequel saw Aaron Taylor-Johnson's titular hero and Chloe Grace Moretz's Hit-Girl a new generation of wannabe superheroes inspired by their actions, though Christopher Mintz-Plasse's crime boss heir Chris D'Amico is out for vengeance with his own team of costumed supervillains. While seemingly the end of the Kick-Ass movie saga, a new reboot is in the works by Vaughn titled School Fight.

While Vaughn prepares for the Kick-Ass reboot, Wadlow opened up to ComingSoon.net about his experiences working with the director to helm Kick-Ass 2. While Wadlow's initiative in developing a pitch won him the opportunity to shape the sequel, he itted that he did feel somewhat intimidated upon ing the production's returning cast and crew and had to adjust. However, he was ultimately grateful for the experience, opportunity, and bonds he forged. Check out Wadlow's full recollection below:

I am so grateful for that experience. You have to I’d only done two movies at this point. But it came at an interesting time in Hollywood as it was kind of the end of the era for the Shooter director. What I mean by that is that kind of music video style filmmaker who’d get a mountain of scripts and pick what they wanted to do, writers would get hired and fired and were sort of dispensable, and that’s how Hollywood was making movies...I’d met with Matthew (Vaughn) about Bloodshot, and he asked me my thoughts about Kick-Ass 2, so I told him what I’d do with it, and he found it interesting. But then I didn’t hear from him again about it. So I bought the comics and wrote the script, and without a deal in place or anything, I sent it to him. And he was impressed and gave me the chance to direct it. I’m very much in his debt for the opportunity itself, and I owe him a lot.

As far as the process goes…it was challenging. And I don’t think anyone would be surprised to hear that. It was just a lot of actors, a lot of history with the project. I was the new guy as I was using Matthew’s crew, so everyone had worked on the first film but me. Shot in London, I was the only American. It was a hard shoot for me, but I learned a lot and I’m proud of the movie, but to describe it as anything other than challenging would be untruthful. I mean, look at it this way. If they’re gonna give some guy an opportunity to direct who wrote the script on spec without a deal, it was clearly a bit of a hornet’s nest I was walking into. Yeah, I learned so much, I made some wonderful friendships, and I’m very proud of the final product. I wish Matthew and everyone involved in it nothing but the best, and I look forward to seeing the reboot trilogy he’s working on.

Kick-Ass's Future May Premiere Sooner Than Expected

Vaughn has a reboot trilogy that has already started production.

With over a decade ing since Kick-Ass 2's release and Vaughn moving onto new features including Argylle and its Kingsman series shared universe, it was assumed any attempts to bring Kick-Ass out of the shadows may have been abandoned. While Vaughn had long-desired to return to the franchise, the movie series was caught up in copyright issues that left the director waiting for the rights to revert to him in 2023. However, Vaughn had already developed a sequel that hints at an all-new generation picking up the batons from Kick-Ass.

Kick-Ass Movies

RT Critical Score

RT Audience Score

Box Office

Kick-Ass (2010)

77%

81%

$96.2M

Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

32%

57%

$60.8M

Titled School Fight, the feature reportedly wrapped filming in 2021 and would kick off a new narrative following the events of Kick-Ass 2. This would then be followed by a movie titled The Stuntman. While these initial chapters in the Kick-Ass reboot are seemingly void of the green and yellow spandex-donning hero and Hit-Girl, Vaugn hopes to see these characters return in a later installment with both Johnson and Moretz reprising their roles. As such, the Kick-Ass reboot could be focused on the hero's legacy and how his work inspired others to be heroic, potentially leaning into the age of time.

Related
Will Chloë Grace Moretz's Hit-Girl Return In The Kick-Ass Reboot?

Matthew Vaughn has hinted at a new creative direction for his Kick-Ass reboot film, putting the future of Chloë Grace Moretz's Hit-Girl into question.

While Kick-Ass 2's different production structure proved challenging for Wadlow, it is clear that the director overall sees the experience as one he is grateful for. Despite a mixed critical view, the sequel did find from filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino, alongside its box-office success, which earned Wadlow further recognition. With Vaughn intent on continually developing the new Kick-Ass reboot trilogy, the director seems set on including as many perspectives as he can to take the series forward.

Kick-Ass 2 is available to buy and rent on most digital storefronts, including Amazon, AppleTV, and Google Play.

Source: ComingSoon.net

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Kick-Ass 2
Release Date
July 17, 2013
Runtime
113 minutes
Director
Jeff Wadlow

WHERE TO WATCH

Writers
Jeff Wadlow, Mark Millar, John Romita Jr.
Sequel(s)
Kick-Ass 3
Franchise(s)
Kick-Ass
Distributor(s)
Universal Pictures
Budget
28 million