Since the original Kick-Ass hit theaters in 2010, Mark Millar has been telling everyone who will listen that Kick-Ass 2 was on the verge of being greenlit. Now, it seems more likely than ever that that is actually the case - only without Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) at the helm.

Mark Millar – who has a habit of exaggerating, especially when it comes to the cinematic adaptations of his comics – recently talked about Kick-Ass 2’s prospects, saying that all the controversial scenes from the comic book counterpart would be making it into the film.

On the topic of new director, Jeff Wadlow – courtesy of Digital Spy – Mark Millar said:

"Matthew Vaughn chose the director about 18 months ago secretly because he knew he wasn't going to be doing 'Kick-Ass 2' since he had taken on the 'X-Men' franchise. For a little while, a few weeks, it looked like he might do 'Kick-Ass 2,' but they poured a bucket of money over him to do 'X-Men' instead.

"Jeff Wadlow had been talking to Matthew about doing this move 'Bloodshot' a couple of years back and Matthew was really impressed with his script. He'd done a couple of movies on a small budget, and Matthew was like 'trust me, this is the guy.’

"So the three of us have been talking seriously for about eight months, and Jeff turned in a final draft of the screenplay about eight weeks ago. It's in really nice shape to start shooting in eight or nine weeks' time."

8-to-9 weeks? Without any of the actors officially onboard? Color us dubious.

Hit-Girl Kick-Ass 2 Chloe Moretz

On the topic of the more controversial scenes from Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall:

"Every horrible scene in the book will be in the film. The c*** line in the first one, everybody said 'there's no way you're getting that in the movie', but it happened and it's the same thing with this. Everybody is saying 'you can't have a gang rape scene with supervillains' and 'you can't have the dog's head cut off,’ but every single one of those scenes will go in it."

False equivalency, anyone? The "c-word" ≠ supervillain gang-rape.

Personally, I was not a fan of the Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall comic - for all the reasons Mark Millar just referred to, and more. Forget character development, plot development, and cleverness! Let's cut off a dog's head! Let's gruesomely cut off a lady's head! Let's have some gang-rape because that, apparently, is entertainment.

Except it's not, if you ask me, and in Balls to the Wall wasn't interesting, either. It was shock value for shock value's sake and little else. But that's just me.

Kick-Ass 2 Controversy

Mark Millar can say the film will include all these horrid things all he wants, but I’m hard-pressed to buy it. One of the reasons the first Kick-Ass film was superior to its source material – in my opinion -- was that it cut all the unnecessary fat and artificial shock value from the book. Sure, Vaughn used Millar’s premise, but he transformed it into something better – a demented satire of the superhero origin story and a genuine action-comedy.

If I were a betting Screen Rant writer, I’d bet that the same will happen with Kick-Ass 2 -- if it is, indeed, ever made. We’ve yet to see Aaron Johnson or Chloe Moretz sign onto the film (the latter of whom is in the midst of a blossoming career, not to mention aging rapidly), so a lot of pieces need to fall into place before this sequel can come to fruition.

Lastly, Millar talked about Hit-Girl's role in the sequel, saying:

"[Hit-Girl's upcoming comic book] will be the first 30 minutes of the movie and then the next 70 minutes is Kick-Ass 2 [Balls 2 the Wall]. So Hit-Girl is structured as the first act."

For the sake of Kick-Ass fans, I hope this film happens. I don't have much hope for it in terms of quality - now that Matthew Vaughn is out the door - but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give it a chance. It just means that the likelihood of creative success is on a steep decline -- but perhaps Jeff Wadlow will surprise all of us.

Kick-Ass 2 -- if all goes well -- is slated to hit theaters in 2013.

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Follow me on Twitter @benandrewmoore.

Source: Digital Spy