Kingsman: Mark Strong on possibly returning to the franchise

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

While fans of Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman franchise are still waiting for the long-delayed prequel, The King's Man, to hit theaters, we've got the scoop on if Mark Strong, who plays Merlin in the series, will ever return for more superspy shenanigans.

If you've seen Kingsman: The Golden Circle, you'll know that Merlin sacrifices himself to save Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Harry Hart (Colin Firth) at one point in the movie. It's a very touching scene that literally sends the character off on a high note with his head held high. However, as respectable as Merlin's death might be, fans are still hoping that the character finds his way back into the franchise.

Recently while speaking with our own Jimmy O, Strong commented on the possibility of him returning to the Kingsman film series:

"I don't know. I'd love to because I love making those movies. I thought that triumvirate, that connection of me, Colin (Firth), and Taron (Egerton) was a great little gang. I was quite sad, I think, as were a lot of people, when he comes to his dynamic end, shall we say? At the end of the second one. I think there is a third one, and that universe, anything can happen as you well know. I mean, Colin got shot in the eye and comes back and he's fine. It's fantasy, so I'm not ruling it out."

Granted nothing is written in stone, but could Strong know something about Merlin's future that we don't? Did he survive his epic end on Poppy's island? Does the Kingsman organization have its own cloning program? Robots perhaps? We'll have to wait and see, I suppose. In any case, I think strong makes a great point about the Kingsman movies being rooted in fantasy, and I would love to see them pull something crazy to get Merlin back into the mix.

After several delays due to the pandemic, The King's Man is scheduled to hit theaters on December 22, 2021.