Taron Egerton starred in the first two Kingsman movies, but he won't be in the third one. But that's not to say he won't be in Kingsman 3, which is what the planned sequel is still being called. Instead, the third movie in production is actually a prequel, and Egerton confirmed that's why he won't be involved:
Even in the Kingsman universe, where anything goes, unless we can develop a time machine in the first act of the movie, I'm not going to be in it. The idea for the film is really cool. It's more of an origin story, like the first one.
Watch them now develop a time machine in the first act! But, for now, Taron Egerton confirmed to Yahoo that director Matthew Vaughn's next Kingsman movie is set about 100 years ago. So it wouldn't make sense for Eggsy to be involved.
The prequel, called Kingsman: The Great Game, reportedly follows the spy organization in the early 1900s -- or about 100 years ago, as Taron Egerton just mentioned. Last we heard, Ralph Fiennes was being eyed for that movie, but nothing official has been announced at this point.
However, there should be more Kingsman coming. Just a few months ago, Matthew Vaughn shared some ambitious plans for the Kingsman universe. There's the sequel -- Kingsman 3 -- which Vaughn said would mark "the conclusion of the Harry Hart-Eggsy relationship." He also mentioned The Great Game spinoff prequel; plus an eight-hour Kingsman TV show; plus a Statesman film set in the world introduced through the American agents played by Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, and Halle Berry. Phew!
Taron Egerton reiterated that, although he's not in the next movie, he would be "game" to return for a third Kingsman movie -- partly because he has to:
I am contractually obliged to be game for it. But I'm very proud of my relationship with Matthew Vaughn. I'm very proud of the movies. ... All jokes aside, I would love to come back and do a third one and wrap it up.
That third film is meant to end the trilogy following Taron Egerton's Eggsy and Colin Firth's Harry Hart, but Egerton added that he'll be happy to step away from the franchise for a while after that. The Kingsman world has dominated his 20s, and the now 29-year-old Robin Hood actor said he'd like some time apart from Eggsy to let the character mature. But he left the door open to return many years past the third movie, to maybe play the mentor to a future character.
Previous reports had suggested that Kingsman: The Great Game and Kingsman 3 would be filmed back-to-back. There was also talk that the sequel would start filming this January and introduce characters who would be featured in the prequel. But the Kingsman schedule is now as screwy as that official MCU timeline, 'cause it sounds like the prequel is the next film on the docket, which is why Taron Egerton won't be involved.
This all started with Kingsman: The Secret Service in 2014, the first film based on the comic book series. That film made $414 million worldwide and was followed by Kingsman: The Golden Circle in 2017, which picked up $410 million. Will the third movie -- as opposed to Kingsman 3, sorry to be pedantic -- earn another $400M for director Matthew Vaughn? We'll have to wait and see.
A few months ago, Fox scheduled an untitled Kingsman movie for November 8, 2019. Initially, that was assumed to be Kingsman 3, then revealed to be the prequel, Kingsman: The Great Game. Here's what we do know is ahead for movie releases in 2019.
