For a long while now Kick-Ass 2 has seemed to exist in the realm of Ghostbusters 3 or Tron 2, a sequel that nobody would actually come out and admit was never going to happen, but that seemed set for release around the time of the Second Coming. But just as Dan Aykroyd has stumped for Ghostbusters 3 beyond all reason, Kick-Ass 2 has had its own dogged champion in Mark Millar, who wrote the original comic book and worked as an executive producer on the first film, which was adapted and directed by Matthew Vaughn. Even with Vaughn moving on to giant movies like X-Men: First Class, Millar was the first one to speak up and say Kick-Ass 2 had been greenlit in 2010-- which, of course, wasn't true. And last fall, even while admitting Vaughn wasn't likely to return as director, Millar was still keeping the flame of hope alive.
Today, in an interview with The Daily Record, Millar isn't just keeping the flame alive, but he's making concrete promises that he seems unlikely to keep. Millar told them that he plans to shoot Kick-Ass 2 this summer, in addition to an adaptation of another of his comics, American Jesus. From there he says he and Vaughn will move on to Secret Service, a kind of James Bond riff about a nebbishy guy getting the chance to become a super spy.
The way that Millar tosses around "we" and talks up his collaboration with Vaughn indicates that the two are at least in touch, but the production schedule he's mentioning makes absolutely no sense. Vaughn was just brought back in to direct a sequel to X-Men: First Class, and while there's no release date in place just yet, it seems safe to assume the usual rushed sequel production sequel, which means Vaughn will be busy this summer. And even if he weren't, how would they shoot not one but two comic adaptations this summer, including one that's a sequel to a film with a lot of stars who might have busier schedules?
It's hard to figure what Millar meant, if he misspoke, if he's using some wishful thinking to make these projects happen by speaking about them in print, or if there's some massive miscommunication somewhere. And hey, who knows-- maybe Vaughn has negotiated with Fox to spend the summer on Kick-Ass 2 before starting up again with X-Men, and we'll see casting announcements soon. But given Millar's history of crying wolf, I'm staying skeptical on this until some more information emerges.
