Kick-Ass 2 Director Reflects On “Challenging” Production Of Matthew Vaughn Sequel

Kick-Ass 2 director Jeff Wadlow opens up about how he joined the production of the superhero sequel and the filming difficulties. The 2013 sequel saw Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s titular hero and Chloe Grace Moretz’s Hit-Girl join a new generation of wannabe superheroes inspired by their actions, though Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s crime boss heir Chris D’Amico is out for vengeance with his own team of costumed supervillains. While seemingly the end of the Kick-Ass movie saga, a new reboot is in the works by Vaughn titled School Fight.

While Vaughn prepares for the Kick-Ass reboot, Wadlow opened up to ComingSoon.net about his experiences working with the director to helm Kick-Ass 2. While Wadlow’s initiative in developing a pitch won him the opportunity to shape the sequel, he admitted that he did feel somewhat intimidated upon joining the production’s returning cast and crew and had to adjust. However, he was ultimately grateful for the experience, opportunity, and bonds he forged. Check out Wadlow’s full recollection below:

I am so grateful for that experience. You have to remember I’d only done two movies at this point. But it came at an interesting time in Hollywood as it was kind of the end of the era for the Shooter director. What I mean by that is that kind of music video style filmmaker who’d get a mountain of scripts and pick what they wanted to do, writers would get hired and fired and were sort of dispensable, and that’s how Hollywood was making movies…I’d met with Matthew (Vaughn) about Bloodshot, and he asked me my thoughts about Kick-Ass 2, so I told him what I’d do with it, and he found it interesting. But then I didn’t hear from him again about it. So I bought the comics and wrote the script, and without a deal in place or anything, I sent it to him. And he was impressed and gave me the chance to direct it. I’m very much in his debt for the opportunity itself, and I owe him a lot.

As far as the process goes…it was challenging. And I don’t think anyone would be surprised to hear that. It was just a lot of actors, a lot of history with the project. I was the new guy as I was using Matthew’s crew, so everyone had worked on the first film but me. Shot in London, I was the only American. It was a hard shoot for me, but I learned a lot and I’m proud of the movie, but to describe it as anything other than challenging would be untruthful. I mean, look at it this way. If they’re gonna give some guy an opportunity to direct who wrote the script on spec without a deal, it was clearly a bit of a hornet’s nest I was walking into. Yeah, I learned so much, I made some wonderful friendships, and I’m very proud of the final product. I wish Matthew and everyone involved in it nothing but the best, and I look forward to seeing the reboot trilogy he’s working on.

Kick-Ass‘s Future May Premiere Sooner Than Expected

Vaughn has a reboot trilogy that has already started production.

With over a decade passing since Kick-Ass 2‘s release and Vaughn moving onto new features including Argylle and its Kingsman series shared universe, it was assumed any attempts to bring Kick-Ass out of the shadows may have been abandoned. While Vaughn had long-desired to return to the franchise, the movie series was caught up in copyright issues that left the director waiting for the rights to revert to him in 2023. However, Vaughn had already developed a sequel that hints at an all-new generation picking up the batons from Kick-Ass.

Titled School Fight, the upcoming feature reportedly wrapped filming in 2021 and would kick off a new narrative following the events of Kick-Ass 2. This would then be followed by a movie titled The Stuntman. While these initial chapters in the Kick-Ass reboot are seemingly void of the green and yellow spandex-donning hero and Hit-Girl, Vaugn hopes to see these characters return in a later installment with both Johnson and Moretz reprising their roles. As such, the Kick-Ass reboot could be focused on the hero’s legacy and how his work inspired others to be heroic, potentially leaning into the passage of time.

While Kick-Ass 2‘s different production structure proved challenging for Wadlow, it is clear that the director overall sees the experience as one he is grateful for. Despite a mixed critical view, the sequel did find support from filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino, alongside its box-office success, which earned Wadlow further recognition. With Vaughn intent on continually developing the new Kick-Ass reboot trilogy, the director seems set on including as many perspectives as he can to take the series forward.

Source: ComingSoon.net

Kick-Ass 2

Director

Jeff Wadlow

Release Date

July 17, 2013

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures

Runtime

113 minutes

prequel(s)

Kick-Ass

Budget

28 million