This article is part of a directory: Kick-Ass Reboot: Confirmation, Trilogy Plans & Everything We Know

Summary

  • Matthew Vaughn plans to reboot the Kick-Ass franchise and aims to start filming in 2024, with ideas for the original characters to return in a potential sequel.
  • The original Kick-Ass movie changed people's perception of superhero films and was a box office success, while the sequel was less successful and received negative reviews.
  • Vaughn's busy schedule may impact his involvement in the reboot, but if his commitment is similar to his other comic adaptations, there is hope for the franchise to be redeemed and for the return of beloved characters.

With a decade gone since the last movie came out, Matthew Vaughn has re-confirmed his Kick-Ass reboot plans and given a filming timeline. Based on Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s graphic novels of the same name, the first two movies centered on geeky teenager Dave Lizewski as he sought out to become a real-life superhero, eventually becoming embroiled in a larger world of like-minded people as they faced a variety of organized crime. Serving as star-making turns for Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloë Grace Moretz, the first movie garnered widespread acclaim and was a box office success, spawning a far less successful sequel.

During his recent New York Comic Con , of which Screen Rant was in attendance of, Matthew Vaughn opened up about his previously discussed Kick-Ass reboot plans. The writer/director not only re-confirmed he is moving ahead with a new incarnation of the comic book franchise, but that he is aiming to start filming in 2024, and that while the original characters won't be back for the project, he has ideas for their returns in a potential sequel. See what Vaughn shared below:

Next year we're rebooting Kick-Ass and we're making Kingsman 3... Kick-Ass sort of changed people's perception of what a superhero film is at that time. So we're doing it again. So it's none of the characters from the other Kick-Ass. We'd like to bring them back after the reboot, but this reboot is just going off on a tangent that I really can't talk about. But it's fun.

Will The Reboot Redeem Kick-Ass 2's Failure?

Kick-Ass (Aaron Johnson) wearing a yellow and green suit and looking confused in Kick-Ass 2

Vaughn first announced his plans to develop a Kick-Ass reboot in 2018 under his then-freshly-launched production company Marv Studios, though later revealed in 2021 that he wouldn't be able to actually do anything with the property in 2023 when the rights reverted back to him. More than helping Taylor-Johnson and Moretz enter the public spotlight, the original movie also properly established Vaughn as a sought-after director, leading to his work co-writing and directing X-Men: First Class, co-writing its sequel Days of Future Past and leading the charge on the Kingsman franchise, another Millar comic adaptation.

It would be this busy schedule that led to Vaughn handing the reins off for Kick-Ass 2 to Jeff Wadlow, having handpicked the up-and-coming filmmaker to write and direct the sequel. Though unknown at the time, Wadlow has since become known for his work writing and directing multiple critically panned Blumhouse horror projects, including the Fantasy Island movie reimagining, which earned him two Razzie nominations for Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay. The 2013 sequel would serve as early proof of Wadlow's struggles in the writing and directing chairs for critics and audiences alike, as it garnered mostly negative reviews, which lamented the lack of witty writing and subversive storytelling that made the 2010 original a hit.

While he may have plans to film the Kick-Ass reboot in 2024, it remains to be seen how involved Vaughn is in actually developing it, including whether he's writing the screenplay, directing the movie, or simply handing off his story plans to another filmmaker. Given his intention to film the long-awaited Kingsman: The Blue Blood the same year, it does seem possible Vaughn's schedule could be too full to take on both projects. However, if his devotion to the property proves as true as his other Millar-based franchise, one can hope that the reboot puts Kick-Ass back on the right track and that his hopes for original characters to return in a potential sequel come to fruition.