Warning: SPOILERS for Kingsman: The Golden Circle below!
In 2014, Kingsman: The Secret Service created an audacious new movie universe of utterly dignified British super spies. In his sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, director Matthew Vaughn literally blows up his creation to establish a new paradigm. The first Kingsman introduced audiences to Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton), a London chav recruited by gentleman spy Harry Hart (Colin Firth) to join Kingsman, an independent secret service dedicated to protecting the world. By foiling the scheme of evil billionaire Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) to cull the human race, Eggsy established himself as a proud agent of Kingsman, though the mission cost the life of Harry.
The Golden Circle upends the norms of Kingsman completely. The new film's villain, Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), preemptively strikes at Kingsman before they could learn of her plan for her global drug-dealing organization, the Golden Circle, to infect millions of people with a virus so she can control the legalized distribution of narcotics (and the antidote to the virus) worldwide. Thanks to the help of Charlie (Edward Holcroft), a rejected former Kingman trainee out for vengeance, Poppy launches a missile attack at Kingsman, destroying all of their facilities and murdering all their agents - except for Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong), Kingsman's brilliant tech support.
Soon, the remaining Kingsman find the Americans have an equivalent secret spy agency, Statesman, based in Kentucky, which was founded at the same time as Kingsman. Eggsy and Merlin also are shocked to find Harry is alive; he was resurrected by Statesman's technology, though the ordeal left him with amnesia. With Harry on the mend, and with the aid of Statesman's resources and fellow agents Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) and Ginger Ale (Halle Berry), the agents of Kingsman fight their way to Poppy's secret headquarters in Cambodia to stop her. When it's all said and done, The Golden Circle has reset the chessboard yet again, laying out all the pieces for a third Kingsman movie.
Here's how Kingsman 2 set up Kingsman 3, and possible spin offs, in the quickly expanding Kingsman universe:
The New Kingsman
By the conclusion of The Golden Circle, Kingsman is under new ownership. Polly's missile attack wiped out all of Kingsman's headquarters, resources, and most of its agents. After successfully working together to destroy Polly's organization, Statesman's head honcho Champagne (Jeff Bridges) announced that Kingsman is now a part of Statesman. Kingsman's resources were formerly derived from its founder's tailoring business; Statesman's founder entered the far more profitable liquor business. To finance Kingsman, Statesman purchased a distillery in Scotland, joining the two agencies in the liquor trade as "brothers."
For Kingsman, this meant resuming the cover of having the agency fronted by a high-end haberdashery, but also dealing in exclusive Kingsman Scotch. Kingsman is now in the process of rebuilding, which means Eggsy and Harry will be on the lookout for new recruits to shore up the ranks, which may bring the series full circle to Eggsy now being the established veteran spy training newbies in the fine art of gentlemanly world-saving, while Harry may move into the Arthur role as Kingsman's top man.
Tequila in London
One of Kingsman's new recruits - or at least an agent on loan from America - looks to be Tequila (Channing Tatum). Tequila is a top Statesman operative who was the first to encounter Eggsy and Merlin when they arrived in Kentucky. Tequila, Eggsy and Merlin didn't trust each other or get along at first, but after Tequila fell ill to Polly's blue rash virus and was placed in cryo to save his life, Eggsy, Harry discovered Statesman's other top man, Whiskey, was actually a rogue agent working for his own interests. After he's revived from cryo and given the antidote Eggsy and Harry recovered from Polly, Tequila became a full supporter of Kingsman and suggested one of them take a spot in Statesman as the new Whiskey.
One of the last shots of The Golden Circle shows Tequila arriving at the new Kingsman tailor shop by cab, having traded in his Stetson hat, Wrangler denim, and cowboy boots for a posh suit and bowler hat, an American cowpoke in London sure to ruffle some feathers in Kingsman 3 with his rough-hewed Yankee charms.
The New Whiskey
As Whiskey, Pedro Pascal - perhaps best known as the Red Viper from Game of Thrones season 4 - was awesome with an electric bullwhip and showed off skills with a lasso that would rival Wonder Woman. However, he was also a duplicitous bad guy who was out for himself. Whiskey had lost his wife, who was killed by drug dealers in a convenience store hold up, and he was not only in agreement with Polly's plan to murder everyone in the world who used drugs, he wanted to help that scheme along. In their climactic battle in Cambodia, Eggsy and Harry turned Whiskey into chopped liver. This means Statesman needs a new agent to take up the Whiskey codename, and once Harry and Eggsy demurred, it was Ginger Ale who threw her hat in the ring and became the new Whiskey.
Ginger Ale was Merlin's equivalent in Statesman, brilliant tech support for the agents in the field. However, unlike Merlin, Ginger Ale actually longed to be part of the danger of fieldwork, and now she gets her wish. For Halle Berry, getting to be the new Whiskey in Kingsman 3 is a reboot of being James Bond's fellow agent Jinx in Die Another Day. Berry gets a second chance to be a secret agent and the Oscar winner will surely be a big part of future Kingsman plans - and she's likely hoping for a spinoff of her own as well.
Prince Eggsy
Eggsy found himself in a unique romantic entanglement that even 007 is unfamiliar with: dating royalty. When The Golden Circle began, Eggsy was settled in a happy relationship with Princess Tilde of Sweden (Hanna Alström). He even dined with her parents, the king and queen. Alas, the life of a secret agent - especially how spies are expected to sleep with women in the field for reasons - caused strain on their relationship, though Eggsy actually called Tilde to inform her he was going to perform this duty as part of his job. Eggsy also avoided the issue of marrying Tilde because being married to the princess of Sweden demands a high public profile that would run counter to his job as a secret agent. When it was all said and done, however, after Tilde's life was among the millions saved from Polly's virus, Eggsy listened to his heart and married his princess. What this means for Eggsy's career as a Kingsman remains to be seen, but if anyone can balance his new royal responsibilities with saving the world in Kingsman 3, it's Eggsy.
One possibility to look out for in Kingsman 3 is Eggsy dying. Each movie thus far has featured major Kingsman deaths. Harry died in the first film, and all of the Kingsman agents including Merlin died in the second movie. Eggsy is thus far the only Kingsman yet to shuffle off the mortal coil and Kingsman 3 could complete the circle. Luckily, thanks to Statesman's nanotechology, death need not be a permanent condition in the Kingsman universe.
Harry's Backstage Pass
Perhaps Kingsman 2's most delightful surprise was Sir Elton John, playing himself. Sir Elton was kidnapped by Polly and held prisoner at Pollyland in Cambodia, forced to indulge her in private performances. When Harry and Eggsy invaded Pollyland, Sir Elton was instrumental in helping Harry destroy one of Polly's robot attack dogs. Harry then asked Sir Elton if he could have two tickets to his next concert; Sir Elton responded, "Darling, if you save the world, you can have a backstage pass!" Here's hoping Sir Elton mounts a return performance in Kingsman 3 and that Harry does indeed get his backstage pass. Sir Elton by rights should at least be an honorary Kingsman.
While we don't know what the new threat to the world will be in Kingsman 3, it's likely something Matthew Vaughn and his screenwriter Jane Goldman have already conceived, just as they knew Harry would return in 2 when they were still writing the first film. Vaughn has high hopes not just for a third Kingsman, but for spinoffs involving the agents of Statesman as well. As Vaughn told Screen Rant:
œWe have a big plan for number 3. If you look at the ending of number 2, every single character is on the cusp of a new adventure which is set up I hope, everyone's thinking a question mark for what's going to happen to these guys next.
With all the shared cinematic universes out there, Kingsman has carved out a bawdy and uniquely action-packed spy universe populated with endearing characters all its own. We hope Kingsman's spy games continue undaunted.
