San Diego Comic Con 2017 opened up with a Hall H panel dedicated to Fox’s upcoming KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. While the main cast were in attendance, including Taron Egerton, Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, Colin Firth and Pedro Pascal, it was Halle Berry chugging a full pint of bourbon that stole the show.
KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE was the sole presentation from 20th Century Fox at Comic Con this year, but the panel was jam-packed with footage and teasers for the sequel to Matthew Vaughn's breakout hit. While Vaughn himself was not in attendance in Hall H (he is busy putting the finishing touches on the editing of the film), he did appear via Facetime on moderator Jonathan Ross' iPhone. Those of us in attendance were treated to three clips from the film, including the entirety of the film's opening action sequence. Needless to say, Vaughn jumps right in with little introduction. This being his first sequel, Vaughn doesn't seem to play by the rules for the traditional cinematic follow-up.
The cast, along with screenwriter Jane Goldman and Kingsman comic artist Dave Gibbons (who sketched an original drawing of Eggsy that was handed out to an audience member), discussed what made this sequel so unique. Goldman shared that the key was creating the Kingsman's American equivalent, the Statesmen, who are modeled after stereotypical cowboys. Based at a Kentucky distillery, the Statesmen all have codenames based on beverages. Halle is Ginger Ale while Jeff Bridges is Champ (named after Champagne). Channing Tatum was excited to just be involved with the film as he professed to being a fan of KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE. Taron Egerton cautioned the audience to never pick a fight with Tatum which led directly into the second clip which featured the two actors going toe to toe.
The final clip shared was focused on the sequel's villain, Poppy, who is based in a 1950s style headquarters located deep in what appears to be ruins in a South American rainforest. I won't spoil the clip, but if you thought Samuel L. Jackson was over the top in the first film, you haven't seen anything yet. And I doubt you will ever look at a hamburger the same way again. The other exclusive for those of us in the Hall was a hilarious animated sequence featuring Eggsy meeting none other than Sterling Archer himself. Twentieth Century Fox was kind enough to share that online and you can check out the full clip below.
Overall, Matthew Vaughn looks to have done it again with KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE as the sense of humor remains intact from the first film while the action is crazier and ballsier. The biggest remaining mystery is how exactly Colin Firth is returning after his fate in the first movie. Firth was cagey with details about reprising his role of Harry Hart but did say that preparing for this film was quite different than the first one. Here's hoping that the tease we witnessed in Hall H means we can expect something that will top the infamous church sequence in THE SECRET SERVICE. Odds are looking good that we will.
KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE opens in theaters on September 22nd.