The newest trailer for The King's Man has been released, and the latest look at the Kingsman franchise prequel features a cover version of The Temptations' famous antiwar song, "War." Following the success of the first two entries in the Kingsman franchise, director Matthew Vaughn has decided to go back to the origins of Kingsman for the next adventure. This means The King's Man will focus on a new young British spy, Conrad (Harris Dickinson), instead of keeping the story centered on Eggsy (Taron Egerton).
Its been months since any sort of promotional materials for The King's Man have been released, as the marketing campaign slowed down at the end of 2019. Disney debuted a second trailer for the film in late 2019 but then delayed the film's release to the fall of 2020. Over half a year after that trailer, the marketing is starting to pick back up to get fans of the Kingsman franchise excited for another entry before The King's Man arrives in theaters this September. The King's Man is going all the way back to World War I to tell this new tale, and the song choice for the latest trailer reflects the state of the world at that time.
With the release of a new trailer for The King's Man, viewers might recognize the franchise theme composed by Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson, but there is also another recognizable beat featured throughout. The song featured in The King's Man's new trailer is "War." The song originally was recorded by The Temptations in 1970 but the version done by Edwin Starr is the more well-known rendition. However, the trailer for The King's Man doesn't use either of these versions, as a rock cover recorded by Black Stone Cherry in 2016 is what can be heard playing.
The selection of "War" as the song for The King's Man trailer is quite fitting. The song was originally written as an anti-Vietnam War ballad that questions what good comes from war (and answers, "absolutely nothing"). Using "War" in this new trailer further emphasizes the WWI setting of the prequel, especially as it plays over footage of the Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) and more fighting on the battlefield. The song choice also works with the plot of the film in another way. The trailer paints a war between the first generation of Kingsman and a group of villains led by someone with a shepherd's crook emblem on their ring. So, not only is Britain at war like many other countries at this time, but the Kingsman appear to be engaged in a war of their own.
Now that this new trailer for The King's Man has arrived, fans have received what is arguably the best look at the film so far. The trailer has added more context to the story and showed off the excellent ensemble it will feature, whether that includes Djimon Hounsou and Gemma Arterton as people involved with Kingsman or Daniel Brühl and Rhys Ifans's Rasputin as the villains they'll go up against. With the Kingsman franchise's usual dose of stylized action and comedy, The King's Man will look to reinvigorate interest in the franchise's future after the subdued response to Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
