The teaser trailer for Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman prequel The King's Man has arrived. After making a bigger name for himself with Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, Vaughn turned his attention to directing yet another comic book adaptation in the form of 2015's Kingsman; The Secret Service. Loosely based on The Secret Service graphic novel by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar, the movie was a generally well-received subversion of James Bond and similar old-school spy films. It went on to get a sequel, The Golden Circle, two years later, but the reception was cooler this time around.
Both The Secret Service and Golden Circle were financial hits, though, and Vaughn is already planning to make Kingsman 3 sometime next year (if not sooner). Before then, however, he will release The King's Man, a prequel that explores the origins of the Kingsman agency. According to its synopsis, the script by Vaughn and his writing partner Jane Goldman takes place in the early 20th century and revolves around "a collection of history's worst tyrants and criminal masterminds" plotting a war to wipe out millions.
Fox has now released the teaser for The King's Man online, ahead of its premiere in theaters. You can check it out in the space below, follow by the official poster.
As seen in the trailer, The King's Man (at least partially) takes place against the backdrop of WWI. The synopsis indicates that the war is the result of a vast global conspiracy that, in turn, leads to the formation of the Kingsman intelligence agency to resist it. Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man) also makes an appearance here as Grigori Rasputin, which means the film must take place closer to the start of WWI since, in real-life, Rasputin was killed in 1916. Beyond that, it appears that Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter) and Harris Dickinson's (Trust) characters will have a teacher-student relationship similar to Harry and Eggy's in the previous Kingsman movies.
Tonally, The King's Man footage has the feel of a pulpy WWI adventure along the lines of something like Wonder Woman. Seeing as The Golden Circle was criticized for going too far with its juvenile comedy, it's possible that Vaughn decided to pull back a bit and go for a more grounded, but still playful vibe with his third Kingsman movie overall. It seems to be working so far, resulting in a prequel that has its own distinct look, yet still clearly belongs to the Kingsman universe without coming off as simply more of the same. That certainly bodes well for the film, ahead of its release next year.
Source: Fox
