This writer, and many Playlist members, will fully admit — we're still reeling from the fact that something Scottish comic book writer Mark Millar said actually came true. The king of exaggeration, undermanaging expectations, fibs and tall tales, generally everything that comes out of the "Kick-Ass" creator's mouth must be taken with a ocean-sized block of salt, so we were shocked to hear that "Kick Ass 2," was not only actually moving forward, the sequel was actually shooting at the end of this summer (though now it appears to be an early fall shoot). Good for him, though the scoreboard is still akin to 20-1 at this point when it comes to fiction vs. facts.
Moving on, as recently reported, talks are already underway with cast members Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse to reprise their roles in the black comedy superhero film that grossed $48 million domestically and $96 million globally back in 2010. This time Universal, not Lionsgate, the distributor of the first film, are financing the picture.
Deadline advances the story an inch. Evidently Nicolas Cage, who (big spoiler if you haven't seen the film already) died in the original film, may return in the form of a cameo, which we would assume would be flashbacks (though Cage's people claim he hasn't received an offer yet). More comforting for fans of this series is that Johnson is also likely returning. Apparently since none of the cast had sequel options, negotiations had to be struck from scratch which led to rumors that he and some of the rest of the heroes in the film would need to be recast. That's apparently not the case, though nothing appears to be official at the moment.
Original helmer Matthew Vaughn isn’t returning to direct, instead having jumped ship to the "X-Men: First Class" franchise. Instead, lesser known filmmaker Jeff Wadlow ("Cry_Wolf," "Never Back Down") is shooting the picture based off a script he wrote himself. There are several other roles for new characters, presumably those that appeared in the "Kick Ass 2: Balls To The Wall" comic-book, such as Mother Russia, Cleopatra, Marcus Williams, Katie Deauxma and possibly members of the group Justice Forever. Guess we'll find out soon who will be slotting those roles.