[Spoilers for Kingsman: The Golden Circle ahead.]
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Taron Egerton has explained why Channing Tatum's Agent Tequila only has a small role in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. In the Kingsman sequel, Kingsman agent Eggsy (Egerton) finds himself in a dire situation - as the British underground organization that he belongs to is attacked by a secretive group dubbed The Golden Circle, led by kooky but deadly new villain, Poppy (Julianne Moore). This prompts Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong) to reach out to their American cousins the Statesman, spearheaded by Champ (Jeff Bridges) and backed up by Tequila (Tatum), Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) and Ginger Ale (Halle Berry). Together, the two groups must work together to foil Poppy's plan that could kill millions around the world.
Being one of the new faces of the Matthew Vaughn-helmed franchise, many fans were expecting to see the Magic Mike star to have a more prominent role in the sequel. After all, Tatum was presumed to be the American counterpart to Eggsy's British spy, based on the promos for The Golden Circle alone. Unfortunately, after he makes a nifty intro and interrogates Eggsy/Merlin following their infiltration of the Statesman's headquarters, Agent Tequila wound up frozen in a science lab as a means of saving his life, when it turns out he is one of the many victims of Poppy's deadly drugs. This causes Tequila to miss a huge chunk of the film, before waking up at the end. According to Egerton, that can be attributed to a real-world complication.
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Sitting down with THR, the young actor admitted that the there was indeed change in the script leading to Tatum having a smaller role in the sequel because of scheduling issues, saying "There was a shift of sorts. There was some changing because of Channing's schedule. The thing is that the script is constantly in flux." Whiskey then took over a number of the scenes that were written for Tequila - something that Egerton had no problem with, telling THR that "Pedro and I got to spend so much time together, and he's amazing."
While it is not clear what caused the scheduling conflict, Tatum also starred in Steven Sodenberg's summer offering, Logan Lucky alongside Adam Driver and Daniel Craig. That could be the reason that the actor was not available to film more scenes for The Golden Circle during its production.
Regardless of his small role in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the future looks bright for Tatum in the spy-comedy franchise. By the end of The Golden Circle, when all threats have been contained, a dapper looking, bowler-hat-wearing Tequila is seen strutting down the streets of London towards the new Kingsman shop. With Eggsy having now married Princess Tilde (Hanna Alström) and presumably taking a royal role moving forward, it will be interesting to see if Tequila becomes the new interim face of the Kingsman - until of course, everyone needs to gather back up for another world-saving mission.
NEXT: How The Golden Circle Sets Up Kingsman 3
Source: THR
