A brand new trailer for The King's Man has been released. A prequel film set within the Kingsman franchise that kicked off with Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service in 2015, The King's Man was originally slated to release in late 2019, but was then bumped to early 2020 before settling on its current release date of September 18, 2020. The delays were a result of Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox and then theater closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but as more movie theaters announce plans to reopen, more studios are resuming marketing for their upcoming releases.
Set during the First World War, The King's Man takes a look at the origins of the Kingsman organization. As such, the film isn't a continuation a Eggsy's (Taron Egerton) story from Kingsman and its sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, but there remain plans for an eventual Kingsman 3 that will round out the trilogy. In the meantime, though, Vauhn is interested in expanding his Kingsman movie universe, and with the prequel, he's able to further develop his world of gentleman spies.
The King's Man stars Ralph Fiennes as the Duke of Oxford and Harris Dickinson (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) as Conrad, the young man the Duke will mentor in a similar manner to Harry Hart's (Colin Firth) mentoring of Eggsy in Kingsman. The prequel also stars Gemma Arterton, Djimon Hounsou, and Rhys Ifans as the infamous, Rasputin. Check out the latest trailer for The King's Man as well a new poster with the updated release date, below.
Previous trailers for The King's Man highlighted the same frenetic action the franchise is known for, and this latest trailer is no different. But with the prequel set against the backdrop of WWI, that action takes on a flavor that's even more hard-hitting and brutal. The King's Man's early 20th century setting also lets the movie toy with history, and this means including characters based on real figures of the past. Ifan's Rasputin, for instance, seen threatening the Russian royal family and generally acting super evil throughout the trailer, appears to be the prequel's primary villain. At least, he appears to be who the Duke and Conrad will interact with most, but The King's Man trailer hints at other villains, an organization of "tyrants and criminal masterminds" as mentioned in the film's official and brief synopsis.
In addition to more of Kingsman's stylistic action and an intriguing, historical setting, The King's Man is also banking on audiences being as charmed by Fiennes' Duke of Oxford as they were Firth's Harry Hart. The real appeal of the first Kingsman movies comes from Firth's surprising turn as the seasoned spy and his relationship with Eggsy. Egerton's performance was also well-received, effectively launching his career, leading to bigger roles and an eventual Golden Globe win for Rocketman. The hope, surely, is that Fiennes and Dickinson will have a similar rapport, but this trailer for The King's Man focuses largely on Fiennes and a few of the other familiar faces in the cast, like Arterton's Polly and Hounsou's Shola. It may be that The King's Man winds up being more of an ensemble film than a buddy movie, but either way, it looks chock full of the wildly entertaining action fans have come to expect.
Source: Disney