What Would the World Look Like at the Beginning of a “Kingsman” Sequel?

Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) was designed to kick off a potential Kingsman film franchise. Since the movie was critically well-received, controversial, and most importantly, a box office success, the chances of a future batch of Kingsman sequels coming to fruition are good. Especially since Vaughn confirmed he’s already started working on the next installment.

But what would the world look like at the beginning of the next Kingsman? That all depends on where it picks up. The writers could, of course, do anything they want - but if the next film begins where the first one left off, it would have to realize the world would be in a rather grim state.

Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and his crew saved the world from Valentine’s genocidal scheme (Samuel L. Jackson) in the film - but we can’t ignore the fact Valentine did successfully inflict massive widespread rage attacks all over the world for a couple solid minutes before finding himself impaled upon one of Gazelle’s (Sofia Boutella) legs. Earlier, when Valentine demonstrated the process on the Kentucky church, we saw how much carnage can happen in a matter of a few minutes. Granted, not everyone on the planet will have had a super-killer Kingsman like Galahad (Colin Firth) in their midst, but those few minutes were still enough to cause tens of thousands of deaths, and an incalculable number of injuries. Eggsy’s mom chopped through her bathroom door in the time allotted. Anyone who didn’t have a physical barrier between them and other humans had ample time to find trouble.

Plus, there’s that little fact that almost all the world’s leaders, richest business people, and A-list celebrities had their heads popped off in little mushroom clouds thanks to Valentine’s cerebral implants - at Eggsy’s own command. That would ruffle the foundation of, well, everything on a global scale.

All that being said, it’s debatable whether or not Eggsy saved the world at all. He saved billions of people, but first allowed significant catastrophe to wreak havoc on the world as we know it. A truly dour existence remains.

The head of the unit, Arthur (Michael Caine), would need to be replaced, as he had fallen in with Valentine and betrayed the organization. In fact, Eggsy, Merlin (Mark Strong) and Roxy/Lancelot (Sophie Cookson) are all that’s left of the secret service. That calls for some recruiting - and would Merlin become the new Arthur?

One thing is certain: Given Vaughn’s propensity for stylized, buffoonish violence and superficially fun thrills, any future Kingsman titles are bound to delight (and enrage) audiences time and again.