How The King’s Man Sets up Kingsman 3

After many pandemic-related delays, The King’s Man is finally hitting theaters next week. The movie has been met with mixed reactions from critics so far, earning a 44% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes after 43 reviews. ComicBook.com’s Kofi Outlaw gave the movie a 2.5 out of 5 and called it a “muddled prequel.” However, many fans still have hopes for the long-awaited Kingsman 3, which will feature the return of Taron Egerton’s Eggsy. During a recent interview to promote The King’s Man, director Matthew Vaughn teased that the prequel will help set up the upcoming threequel. 

“There has to be some bleeding into it because, in theory, whatever happens there should be … the history of the King’s Man. So there’s a few little easter eggs we’ve been put in there, which will pay off. One of them is an easter egg that’s screwing us up right now because we didn’t quite think it out logically. And now I’m looking at going, ‘Oh f*ck.  How do we make that work?’ So I’ve sort of screwed myself up already.  But we’re, uh, it’s one of the, uh, [LAUGH] yeah, yeah …  The problem is sometimes you think you have it on the day, you think that’s a great idea.  And then on this case, three years later, you go, ‘Now maybe I shouldn’t have done that,’” Vaughn teased. 

Last year,  Vaughn discussed the new movie with Empire as well as the future of the franchise, talking more about how The King’s Man will have connections to Kingsman 3.

“We’ve put seeds for what’s going to happen in Kingsman 3 all the way back into this,” Vaughn teased. “And it’s going to be very different.” Originally, Vaughn planned to pass the next film on to another director, but he’s now thinking about continuing the franchise himself. “I actually don’t know what I want to do,” he explained. “There is an opportunity for a director to really change it up, but I’m considering it.”

In another interview with ComicBook.com, it was confirmed that Kingsman 3 will start filming in September. 

The King’s Man, which hits theaters this month, introduces a brand new cast and characters to the franchise. Ralph Fiennes, Djimon Hounsou, Harris Dickerson, Gemma Arterton, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and more join the saga but are unlikely to crossover into the third Kingsman film with Egerton and the gang, given their story’s World War I timing. That said, stranger things have happened in Kingsman movies than a character living from World War I to 2022. 

The King’s Man hits theaters on December 22, 2021. The third Kingsman movie with Eggsy and the bunch does not yet have a release date.