Mark Millar talks Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall
Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall begins with Hit Girl living with her newly adoptive father, who used to be Big Daddy's ex-partner on the police force. She has retired her guns and is no longer killing people. Meanwhile, Red Mist has hired a Russian Assassin to murder Hit Girl, while also assembling a group of super villains on-line who decide to hunt Kick-Ass down in a storyline that is similar to the one seen in The Warriors, which climaxes with a huge rumble in Times Square, where costumed heroes battle costumed villains to the death. Here is our conversation:
There has been a lot of talk about Kick-Ass 2. What is happening with that? And where would you like to see it go?
Mark Millar: I am writing the comic book right now. Matthew Vaughn is directing X-Men: First Class, which he will be doing until about April. I will have finished writing the new comic by Christmas. Then, in April, we will begin working on Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall.
What direction are you taking the characters in the comic book, and how will that affect the film sequel? Especially with a character like Hit Girl. Chloe Moretz is growing pretty fast, and she has already outgrown her costume...
Mark Millar: The film and the comic book are very closely tied together. There are only a few minor changes towards the end. It does led directly into a sequel, and I am writing the sequel as I always planned it to be. The actors may be a little bit older, or bigger. They can address that in the movie. But I am not changing anything for the comic book. We left things off with her being adopted by this extremely nice man. He is a cop. And she has to stop killing people, you know? That seems like an interesting starting point in the next one in regards to her character. She is going to be like Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven, where she hasn't picked up a gun in years. It's that type of thing. I like the idea of doing that with an eleven year old girl. She was part of this massive cacophony of violence. But she's not allowed to kill people anymore. She is consumed with anger, and forced to watch TV shows instead. Halfway through the movie, or the comic, we will follow her as she picks up a gun again. It is going to be awesome.
And what about Red Mist? The character has a good heart, he's very empathetic, yet he's the villain in the sequel. How is that going to play out, especially in regards to the way he is written in the comic as opposed to the way Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays him on screen?
Mark Millar: This is a guy who has had his entire family killed by Hit Girl. He heads off and develops his martial arts skills. He learns how to become a better villain. That type of thing. He is going to come back and wreck unholy vengeance on our team. But in reality, he just comes back and gets stoned, and he spends a lot of money. He can't do anything, so he hires this bad ass girl from Russia, she comes into the story, and her plan is to kill Hit Girl. Red Mist becomes like Charles Manson. He goes on-line and influences a bunch of young villains to go against Kick-Ass and Hit Girl. The whole thing ends up as a big gang fight like you'd see in The Warriors. There is going to be a big gang fight in the middle of Times Square between all of these costumed heroes. And at the head will be the Red Mist and Hit Girl.
That sounds amazing. I see that you and Matthew Vaughn are working on American Jesus. Is that going to be your next project together after he finishes X-Men: First Class?
Mark Millar: We'd originally talked about doing either American Jesus or Kick-Ass, and Matthew decided on Kick-Ass instead. That was a couple of years back. Now he is doing X-Men: First Class. When he finishes that in April, we are definitely jumping straight into Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall.
Where does that leave American Jesus? Will you eventually do that one? Or is it in eternal limbo?
Mark Millar: I think that film is going to remain in development Hell. Several people came forth to talk to me about American Jesus, and they wanted to make so many changes. Jesus movies are really hard for Hollywood. For some reason, Hollywood is very abashed to doing them. Even though they do quite well. Just look at The Passion of the Christ. But people would ask us, "Can you change the movie to where you don't actually have Jesus in it...But someone kind of 'like' Jesus?" That defeats the whole purpose. This film is supposed to be about the return of Jesus Christ, you know. So I have put it on the back burner. Because Matthew and I are going to do Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall this next time around.
Now that Matthew Vaughn is directing X-Men: First Class, and you've worked on X-men titles in the past, did you have any insight or helpful suggestions that you could pass along to him?
Mark Millar: Yes. Matthew and I talk about it every couple of days or so. He knows his way around X-Men really well. He'll sometimes call me up and ask a couple of things. Generally, he knows what he is doing. About three years ago he was going to do X-Men: The Last Stand. He did about six months work on the film. He really got to know those characters. He is pretty well versed on it. Occasionally, he will call me and ask me to check on something. But he really knows that material well, man.
Kick-Ass 2 comes to theaters August 16th, 2013 and stars Chloe Moretz, Jim Carrey, Nicolas Cage, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lyndsy Fonseca, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Leguizamo, Donald Faison. The film is directed by Jeff Wadlow.
X-Men: First Class was released June 3rd, 2011 and stars James McAvoy, Laurence Belcher, Michael Fassbender, Bill Milner, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Beth Goddard. The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn.
American Jesus is in development . The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn.
Comments (30)
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Fry_3000
bring on number 2 fast.
3 years agoby @Fry-3000Flag
the Narrator
@Zany and @ejk, i look forward to First Class too, but as you mentioned there are a lot of iffy elements. I mean Iceman still hasn't been cast, nor has Marvel Girl. So that has me on the fence of whether or not this is a reboot. :/
3 years agoby @narratorFlag
ejk1
@ZanyZap, From what I've heard, the Wolverine sequel will take place during Logan's stay in Japan, so I don't know how much of an effect, if any, it will have on the other movies. X-Men 4? My guess is that they are hedging their bets. If First Class is a bomb, then they can bring back Jackman, resurrect Xavier and Cyclops, and give Magneto back his powers(in short, pretend X3 never happened). If First Class is a good movie and a box-office success, they will probably shelve ideas for X4. That's just my guess, but it's as good as any I've heard from Hollywood.
3 years agoby @ejk1Flag
ZanyZap
@bhaarth: Change your display name. It's immature and childish. And besides it's "motherf*cker," not "MotherF*cker." If you're gonna act like you're still in grade school at least spell your curse words correctly.
3 years agoby @zanyzapFlag
ZanyZap
@ejk1: Thanks for the information. Based on your comment and a few other news articles I pursued, I'm also inclined to believe that the film is a reboot. However, a sequel for Wolverine is in the works, and to my knowledge there has been recent discussions about X-Men 4. Why would the studio have two separate franchises concerning, to a certain degree, the same characters and basic story? Talk about internal rivalry.
3 years agoby @zanyzapFlag
Cartman
@aceinthehole12 - well said, i was thinking the same!!!
3 years agoby @c-a-r-t-m-a-nFlag
ejk1
@ZanyZap, I don't know for sure,but it seems like a reboot. Remember in Wolverine how Xavier appeared at the end. How will they explain the fact that Xavier, in James McAvoy, became twenty or thirty years younger? Also, they seem to want to get Wolverine involved, but they met him in the first movie. If they want to do a movie about the original X-Men, then how do they explain Iceman and Archangel, who were introduced in the second and third movie, respectively. They've cast Emma Frost, but has anyone noticed that Jean Grey has yet to be cast? I'm excited for this movie, but nervous at the same time. A lot of elements have been put in place, but some issues(Jean Grey & Wolverine) remain unresolved, and so far no one has explained how it all fits.
3 years agoby @ejk1Flag
aceinthehole12
Just watched Kick-Ass again last night. I forgot how awesome it was !! Can't wait for the sequel, honestly no idea how sh*t like Twilight gets 500 million but this barely breaks it's budget.
3 years agoby @aceinthehole12Flag
ZanyZap
Mark Millar seems like such a cool dude.
Super pumped for Kick-Ass 2! I plan to purchase Kick-Ass Tuesday. Great freaking movie.
My interest in X-Men: First Class has certainly risen. Vaughn has his head on straight - I trust the guy. Quick question, if anyone has an answer or an opinion: Is First Class a prequel to the Bryan Singer franchise or a reboot?
3 years agoby @zanyzapFlag
Aeneas142
HELL YEA! CAN'T F*CKING WAIT!
3 years agoby @aeneas142Flag
Cripple
I can't wait for a Kick-Ass sequel!
3 years agoby @crippleFlag
ejk1
@Cyn, it was a critical success, so I figure that the studio execs believe the second will garner more attention, and therefore a larger audience.
3 years agoby @ejk1Flag
Dan
@Cyn who cares, it was great, and if the studios feel like it was enough for another, that's good enough.
3 years agoby @dan1Flag
Cyn
Did the first Kick Ass make that much money as to warrant a sequel?
3 years agoby @cyn-de-harvenFlag
ejk1
The first one was excellent, so I'm expecting this one to be as well.
3 years agoby @ejk1Flag
MovieManiac
I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THIS MOVIE COMES OUT!!!!!! I'm buying the blu ray for the first one either on tuesday or wendsday
3 years agoby @moviemaniac66Flag
WiseGuy
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. Awesome title too, seeing this. Already looking forward to it.
3 years agoby @zgcorleone072Flag
The Soylent Green Monkey
I would f*cking love to see American Jesus.
3 years agoby @soylentgreen2Flag
Monkeyiron
Yea your right @TheREALavatar but I really want to hear my buddy Kick-Ass side of the story.
3 years agoby @monkeyironFlag
Dan
@Monkeyiron that's fine with me. She is the other star of the story, and you can't go wrong with more Hit Girl. She was the show stopper. When she took out all those bad guys, then looked at the camera and said 'shows over, motherf*ckers', she entered into the pantheon of one of my all time favorite characters.
3 years agoby @dan1Flag
DoubleR0522
WHAT A CREATIVE NAME 4 THE MOVIE LOL, I CAN ALREADY TELL THIS MOVIE IS GOING 2 BE GOOD JUST LIKE THE FIRST ONE
3 years agoby @doubler0522Flag
Monkeyiron
So when you think of it the movie is all about Hit-Girl then Kick-Ass huh
3 years agoby @monkeyironFlag
Dan
Hit Girl is my hero.
3 years agoby @dan1Flag
Dan
OH F*CK YES. This will be f*cking awesome. Cannot wait. I got my BluRay copy of Kick Ass 1 coming via Amazon :)
3 years agoby @dan1Flag
the Narrator
God that end fight scene in times square sounds f*cking awesome! Can't wait.
3 years agoby @narratorFlag
Bawnian©-Dexeus
Can Brad Pitt be a part of the cast? He did produce the first one, would be cool to see him kick ass at a Kick-Ass level
3 years agoby @bawnian-dexeusFlag
Chris
looking forward to it
3 years agoby @unknown21Flag
Monkeyiron
MAN O MAN THIS GONNA BE EPIC!!!!!!!!
3 years agoby @monkeyironFlag
Bawnian©-Dexeus
OMG YES, GREAT TITLE INDEED
3 years agoby @bawnian-dexeusFlag
Diaigma
LOL! Great title! :P
3 years agoby @diaigmaFlag