Out of all the potential projects that Quentin Tarantino has teased over the years, only a small fraction of them have come to fruition. One of the many films that never materialized – along with Killer Crow, Star Trek, and Kill Bill: Volume 3 – was a Tarantino-verse spin-off entitled Double V Vega that would’ve focused on Michael Madsen’s character from Reservoir Dogs, Vic Vega, and John Travolta’s character from Pulp Fiction, Vincent Vega, effectively confirming that the two are brothers.
From comments that Tarantino has made to CinemaBlend and Madsen has made to the Hollywood Reporter – as well as various reports from other sources – it’s possible to piece together a rough idea of how this Vega brothers movie could’ve taken shape in another world.
Tarantino Never Got Past The Premise
It would be great if there was a Double V Vega script sitting in a drawer somewhere in Tarantino’s desk, waiting to be turned into a graphic novel or an animated movie. But, sadly, the writer-director revealed on CinemaBlend’s ReelBlend podcast that he never got past the premise stage with the Vega brothers spin-off.
Still, it’s a great premise. The story of Vic and Vincent Vega traversing the criminal underworld together would’ve brought Tarantino back to the genre that made his name. After dabbling in so many other genres, it would be fun to see what Q.T. would do with a crime film today.
The Vega Brothers Project Revolved Around Vincent’s Time In Amsterdam
Madsen told the Hollywood Reporter that Tarantino’s story idea revolved around Vincent’s time in Amsterdam. In Pulp Fiction, Vincent mentions that he just got back to Los Angeles after a long stay in the Dutch capital. Madsen explained, “We were supposed to be in Amsterdam, criminally.”
According to Madsen, “The picture was going to start out with the two of us being released from prison in different states. And we open up a club in Amsterdam.” If it was set during Vincent’s trip to the Netherlands, Double V Vega could’ve featured a fan-service scene where the brothers go to a McDonald’s and order a “Royale with Cheese.”
Marsellus Wallace Could’ve Appeared
The version of the story explained by Tarantino – as reported by /Film – is slightly different than Madsen’s telling of it. Tarantino said that, in the Vega brothers prequel, Vincent would have been “running one of Marcellus’ clubs in Amsterdam, and Vic goes to visit him.”
So, if Marsellus had taken a trip to Amsterdam to see Vincent and check on the club, the movie could’ve featured a cameo appearance by Ving Rhames reprising his iconic role from Pulp Fiction.
John Travolta & Michael Madsen Aged Out Of The Roles
Since both Vega brothers died in their respective movies (Vic was shot by Mr. Orange in Reservoir Dogs and Vincent was shot by Butch Coolidge in Pulp Fiction), Double V Vega had to be a prequel, so Travolta and Madsen had to convincingly play younger versions of the characters that appeared in those movies.
This meant that, as the years went on, the Vega brothers project seemed less and less likely to materialize. Before long, the actors were too old to play the Vega brothers circa the early 1990s.
It Could’ve Been A Revenge Story
Revenge is a recurring theme in Tarantino’s filmography, so it should come as no surprise that one incarnation of Double V Vega was a revenge story. According to /Film, Tarantino proposed a version with the older actors playing the vengeful twins of their dead characters.
According to Tarantino, the movie could’ve gone like this: “Both of their brothers got together because the two guys died. And they wanted revenge or something like that.” This would’ve taken a lot of explaining, but it might have been worth it to team up Travolta and Madsen’s well-dressed killers on-screen.
Tarantino Refuses To Use De-Aging Effects
When Tarantino discussed the Vega brothers spin-off on the ReelBlend podcast, it was suggested that the technology exists for Travolta and Madsen to be digitally de-aged if he chooses to revive the project.
Unsurprisingly, Tarantino has no interest in making a movie like The Irishman with an abundance of CGI altering the actors’ faces. He prefers to do it all for real: stage the action, point a camera at it, and capture it on celluloid.
Double V Vega Could Be Revived With Vic & Vincent’s Twin Brothers
After the actors aged out of the roles, Tarantino approached Madsen with a new idea for the project. Madsen explained, “He had come up with this idea that it would be the twin brothers of Vic and Vincent, who met after the deaths of their siblings. It was very complicated, but when Quentin starts discussing an idea, it’s very easy to go along with it.”
The audience would have to suspend their disbelief quite a bit to go along with the premise that both Vic and Vincent had a twin brother, since the odds of the same family having two sets of twins are pretty slim. But it has happened in real life, and it would be a novel way in for a Travolta/Madsen team-up.