Most cinematic superhero runs tend to come in trilogies, which makes it somewhat of a mystery why we never got a third Kick-Ass film after the 2010 original and its 2013 sequel.
Kick-Ass 2 wasn’t as well received as Kick-Ass, but the sequel still doubled its budget at the box office, and there’s still surely an appetite among fans for more R-rated action from Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s titular vigilante, the combustive Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) and company. The most common school of thought is that director and franchise keymaster Matthew Vaughn simply tends to be sequel-averse, though he has made three Kingsman movies. (Vaughn produced by did not direct Kick-Ass 2.)
In a new interview with Yahoo Entertainment promoting her return to action in Amazon’s buzzy sci-fi series The Peripheral, Moretz weighs in on why we never got a threequel in the franchise that made her a star — and how there still might be a chance we see one.
“I think we were all really gung-ho for Matt Vaughn to come and do it, and I think that’s what we were all aiming for as a cast,” says Moretz, joined by her Peripheral costar Jack Reynor. “And so I think if the stars align, there’s a potentiality for a third one.”
I talked to Chloë Grace Moretz about why there was never a Kick-Ass 3. She says it’s still a possibility.
“I think if the stars align there’s a potentiality for a third one… But I think it’s up to Matthew Vaughn and it’s up to whether or not he wants to dive into it.” pic.twitter.com/p6Jb5BqtIA
— Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) October 17, 2022
The actress thinks the recent success of another hyper-violent comic book franchise, the Ryan Reynolds-lead Deadpool series, proves there’s a marketplace for Kick-Ass.
“It’s interesting to see the character of Deadpool and that whole worldscape, because I feel like it’s so similar to the Hit-Girl world in the sense that I could see that kind of trajectory for a Kick-Ass 3, if there was gonna be one, and how fun it would be if we were able to integrate it.
“But I think it’s up to Matthew Vaughn, and it’s up to whether or not he wants to dive into it, and if it was the right grouping of minds behind it,” she says. “I think is the real key.”
[embedded content]
It’d be especially interesting to see how the series handles Moretz’s famously precocious killer as an adult.
“Just being able to see Hit-Girl grown up, and to delve into her psyche, would be super interesting,” says Moretz, who was 12 when she filmed the first Kick-Ass — and is now 25.
So should she even still be called Hit-Girl? Hit-Woman, possibly?
“Hit-Lady,” Moretz laughs. “Hit-Big Girl. Or just Big Girl.”
The Peripheral premieres Oct. 21 on Amazon.
Watch the trailer:
