Reviews for Kingsman: The Golden Circle may be mixed but the signs are pointing to it going straight to #1 at the North American box office this weekend. While it's possible that Matthew Vaughn will leap straight into a third instalment, there have been rumblings that he could direct Man of Steel 2 and it's going to be fun seeing what the prolific filmmaker does next. However, what about his past projects?
During an interview with Deadline, the director was asked about working on Kick-Ass and admitted that he made it for commercial reasons and that he has some serious regrets about the way the sequel turned out. As you may recall, Jeff Wadlow directed that in the style of Vaughn and it did not go well.
"For me as a director, Kick-Ass, to be totally honest, that was a commercial move. It was one of a few times I really made a bread head decision. I learned a lot, and I felt sorry for Jeff Wadlow, because in the end, I did ask him to retread my style. I can’t say my tonal style is one of textbook sanity, and so I sort of threw Jeff a hostile pass on that, that I apologize for. After doing First Class, I really felt that I was playing in a sandpit that wasn’t my sandpit. It was Bryan Singer’s. Bryan wanted to direct First Class, and then we worked on the Days of Future Past screenplay."
Wadlow's career was pretty ruined after Kick-Ass 2 and it sounds like Vaughn feels like his could have gone the same way had he remained part of the X-Men franchise. However, in a fascinating tidbit, he namedrops Tom Hardy as someone he pictured as a Young Wolverine opposite Hugh Jackman!
"When we finished it, I remember saying to Simon Kinberg and Emma Watts; guys, this feels like it should be the third of the trilogy. It’s such a big concept. Why don’t we do another, one set in the ’70s, because of Young Wolverine, and then the third one is Days of Future Past, where you’re seeing the Young Wolverine with, let’s say it’s Tom Hardy and Hugh Jackman and all the other characters were together. For me, that’s the end of a trilogy. How do you beat that? And I got told no, and when I’m in my sandpit, I don’t like hearing no if I think it’s a good idea. I adore Bryan, and I thought, you know what, I’m going to hand the baton to him. Bryan was nice enough to give me the baton to run with. And I ran with it, and didn’t fall over, and I handed it back."
What do you think of Vaughn's comments? Do you think X-Men: Days of Future Past should have ended the trilogy? Would Tom Hardy have been well-suited to a younger Wolverine? Sound off down below.