Summary

• Kick-Ass reboot trilogy is happening with new characters and the possibility of bringing back some original ones.
• The first movie of the trilogy, titled School Fight, has already been shot and is ready for release.
• Filming the second movie before the first one's release is a risky move that could backfire if the first movie doesn't perform well.

Kick-Ass is officially coming back with a reboot trilogy, but the plans for this return are already risking repeating the same mistake that killed the franchise a decade ago. The rise of the superhero genre in film thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe made way for other, more obscure and mature superheroes to be adapted to the big screen. Among them is Kick-Ass, created by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., and which made the jump to the big screen with Matthew Vaughn as director and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Dave Lizewski a.k.a. Kick-Ass.

Kick-Ass tells the story of Dave, an ordinary teenager who, inspired by comic books, decides to become a real-life superhero called “Kick-Ass”. Dave later meets fellow superheroes/vigilantes Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), but he also ends up in the middle of Big Daddy’s quest for revenge against New York mobster Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong). Kick-Ass was followed by a sequel that killed all plans for a film series, but it’s now coming back with a reboot trilogy – however, the plans for this are already risking making the same mistakes that killed the franchise before.

Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass Reboot Plans Are Confusing

A Kick-Ass reboot had been rumored for years, and in 2021, Vaughn revealed that the Kick-Ass right would revert to him in two years, so a “big reboot” for Kick-Ass would happen in two years (via Collider). Vaughn kept this promise, and in late 2023, he told THR that the Kick-Ass reboot will include new characters, but he intended to bring some of the original ones back after the reboot. The biggest and most surpridate on the new Kick-Ass trilogy arrived in January 2024, but it just made the whole project a bit confusing.

Speaking to Collider, Vaughn revealed they’re already halfway through the Kick-Ass reboot trilogy, and that it’s a “very meta universe”. The reboot trilogy begins with a film titled School Fight, which has already been shot and it’s ready to go, and the second installment is tentatively titled Vram. Vram is currently filming, and the trilogy will end with Kick-Ass, with Vaughn reassuring that all three movies are connected.

The titles of the movies from the new Kick-Ass trilogy make them sound like they will explore Dave’s (or someone else’s) origins before his transformation into Kick-Ass, which would mean that the trilogy can possibly expand beyond just three movies, but the third movie being the only one titled Kick-Ass is causing confusion among followers of the movies.

Why Filming Two Kick-Ass Movies Before Release Could Backfire

As exciting as the idea of a new Kick-Ass trilogy is (despite the confusion about the characters, timeline, and stories), Vaughn’s release plans are a big risk for the trilogy. As mentioned above, Vaughn directed the first Kick-Ass movie, which was a hit with critics and viewers, granting it a sequel. Kick-Ass 2 was directed by Jeff Wadlow, and it not only sparked a lot of controversy but was also a big critical failure, killing all plans for a third movie.

The Kick-Ass movies kept the tone and essence of the source material, being quite dark, violent, and graphic, and there’s always a risk with movies like these. Vaughn has assured the audience that his reboot trilogy will keep the tone of the previous movies, so filming the first two movies before the first one is even released to test how it’s received is a huge risk. Vram’s release could be canceled if School Fight doesn’t perform well with critics and general audiences, but on the other hand, Vaughn’s ambition could work in his favor with great and surprising results.

Sources: Collider, THR.