As many fans of the original know, news on the Kick-Ass 2 front has been building up slowly over time. However, incoming director Jeff Wadlow gave fans hope this weekend at the Kapow! Comic Convention, saying that shooting will most likely start in September and that Chloe Moretz was in talks to come back as break-out character Hit-Girl.
Wadlow, on the differences between the original and the sequel (via Collider):
“I think the most important thing that’s gonna change from the Kick-Ass 2 comic to Kick-Ass 2 the movie was just really finding an emotional story to tell. Because what I certainly loved about the first film, and what I think elevated it above most comic book adaptations, is the heart and the emotion in the film. It was sort of my challenge as the film maker and storyteller to find something as emotional in the second film and I think we have some stuff that people are gonna really respond to.”
In particular, Wadlow spent some time talking about how Hit-Girl worked in his script, saying that the character had a more central role in the film’s script than in the comics:
“If you’ve read the comic, you know, she gives up being Hit-Girl, which was a brilliant idea I thought on Mark [Millar]’s part. It’s something I explore something quiet deeply in the movie because what happens in the comic is she sort of steps away from the story in many ways and she’s sort of sidelined while Dave is working with Justice Forever and Chris is becoming the Mother[frick]er. But I was quite interested in what happens to her when she’s not being Hit-Girl. Her story is a major, major part of the film and she’s excited about the ideas and we’re in talks.”
One of my biggest problems with the original film was the loose ends with Hit-Girl. Just like many other fans, she was one of my favorite parts of Kick-Ass and I always wanted to see more of her story, both as a badass superhero and as a young girl dealing with the everyday problems. Though I haven’t read the comics or seen Kick-Ass since it came out, there’s always been a small part of me that hoped that there would be more to the story. The emotion in the original film was what made me love it in the first place and it sounds like Wadlow has got the right idea with the story so far.
Whether or not Moretz will return is a different story. When Kick-Ass came out in 2010, the only other film I knew her from was (500) Days of Summer. Since then, she’s given some great performances in major movies like Hugo and Dark Shadows, landed the lead role in the Carrie remake, and is co-starring in the Dennis Wilson biopic The Drummer, to name a few things. So if Wadlow wants Moretz, he may need to wait on her, considering she’ll most likely be shooting Carrie this September. Personally, I think it’s worth it. For me, Kick-Ass is nothing without Hit-Girl.
What do you think about the sequel so far? Do you want to see some more Hit-Girl?