'The King's Man' Prequel Film Will Set up the Future for the 'Kingsman' Franchise

The success of 2014's Kingsman: The Secret Service was surprising, to say the least. The little-celebrated comic series by Mark Millar was adapted into a highly stylized and entertaining spy thriller that represented a welcome departure from standard comic book adaptations at the time. Since its premiere, the franchise has grown even larger, especially with The King's Man coming out soon.

The original Kingsman follows Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (Taron Egerton), a streetwise punk who is recruited by Harry Hart (Colin Firth) to join a secret spy organization known as the "Kingsman." Meanwhile, the Kingsman attempt to take down Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), a tech billionaire with a devious plan to rule the world. The first film was followed by a sequel, subtitled The Golden Circle, in which Eggsy and the Kingsman try to foil the plots of drug lord Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore).

The origins of the organization will be revealed in the upcoming prequel, but is a genuine threequel in the works at all?

The next film in the Kingsman series will depict the beginnings of the organization. At the start of the 20th century, a group of people comes together to form the Kingsman agency to stand against historical tyrants and criminals like Grigori Rasputin (Rhys Ifans) as they plot to destroy the world. The film stars Ralph Fiennes as Orlando, Harris Dickenson as Conrad, Gemma Arterton as Polly, and Djimon Hounsou as Shola. It is directed by Matthew Vaughn, who worked on the first two films.

While the film takes place decades before the events of Kingsman, Matthew Vaugn has confirmed that the next film in the series will be a proper continuation that takes place after The Golden Circle. In October 2019, Kingsman star Taron Egerton confirmed that the threequel has a script. In an interview at ACE Comic Con Midwest 2019, Taron expressed that he was all too eager to return to the role.

"It was the role that kind of started my film career, so I'm always going to feel, you know, a great fondness for the part," Taron stated during his panel. "I would like to do one more because frankly, I'd like to say goodbye to [Eggsy] in a befitting way and to finish the trilogy."

At this point, we can safely assume that a Kingsmen 3 is all but confirmed for the future.

The release for the prequel has been a long time coming. The film was originally scheduled to be released in November 2019, but was delayed to February 2020 amid negotiations for the merger between Disney and 21st Century Fox. Of course, the film would be delayed from there due to the COVID-19 quarantine. Even as it was set for release in 2021, the film has seen numerous delays throughout the year.

The King's Man is currently slated for release on Dec. 22, 2021.