Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn has big plans to reboot the superhero movie franchise—in two years, when the rights revert back. The director shared his plans for a new version of the film during a press junket for The King’s Man.
“We’ve got a big reboot of Kick-Ass in two years. Big reboot,” the director said, per Collider. He continued, “It’s so fucking nuts that I can’t talk about it. But we’ve got that ready to go. All the rights revert back in two years and then we’re going to reboot it where people will be like, he is insane.”
The original 2010 faced its own spate of controversy mostly because of Chloe Moretz’s Hit-Girl. Moretz was just 12 years old during filming, but that didn’t stop Hit-Girl from cursing like a sailor while killing a boatload of bad guys. Back in 2018, the actress said she did not wish to return to the franchise for another film.
When asked why he didn’t just want to make a second sequel, Kick-Ass 3, instead, Vaughn explained, “Because I think the clue is in the title. I think Kick-Ass became a new type of genre. Everyone was like, ‘Oh, you can’t make R-rated superheroes. No one will want to see an R-rated superhero. You can’t do this. You can’t do that.’”
He continued, “So, I had this idea, and it was so nuts that I went, ‘Yeah, great. It’ll cause just as much controversy, and everyone will talk about it and as many people that love it will hate it.’ But I’m not saying it hasn’t got the characters in it and won’t have, you know. I’m just saying it’s not what anyone could be imagining what it is. And I’m going to need one very, very brave actor or actress to play the new Kick-Ass because it will scare the shit out of them.” In the original films, the title role was played by Aaron Johnson. Clearly Vaughn is considering gender-flipping at least some of the franchises’ roles.
According to Collider, Vaughn says production on the project can’t begin in earnest until the rights revert to his film company.