Last year’s KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE was quite the surprise. What I’d initially pegged as some cheesy YA wish-fulfillment movie easily became my favorite film of last year. Between its fun characters, off-the-wall action, and irreverent tone, there was a lot for audiences to latch onto, and oh did they latch onto it. While the film only made around $35 million its opening weekend, positive word of mouth helped take the film to over $400 million worldwide.

Given the film’s $81 million budget, the box office haul made it quite the success indeed for director Matthew Vaughn. It was inevitable that a sequel would make its way to the big screen, and luckily for us, Vaughn is back on board to direct, along with his leading man, Taron Egerton.

One of the biggest shoes to fill, however, is in the villain. Samuel L. Jackson’s Valentine was one of the best parts of the film. His flawed, somehow relatable, personality was both fun and endearing, and getting someone who has all those qualities–and who poses a great threat to our leads–is quite the gargantuan task. But if this rumor is true, then we may be in for a treat.

According to THR, Julian Moore is circling the role of the villain right now. Sadly, there are currently no details regarding the plot of the film, let alone the villain of the piece. As such, it’s impossible for us to speculate on whether or not this is a fitting casting choice.

One other rumor from the THR post is in regards to a certain character from the first film.

If you haven’t seen the first film, Do not read on. SPOILER ALERT!

As we know, Colin Firth’s character was shot and killed by Valentine in the first movie. However, that didn’t stop Vaughn in company from trying to come up with ways to bring him back into the sequel. According to THR’s sources, however, the current iteration of the script does not feature the return of Firth’s character.

Of course, like all rumors, take it with a grain of salt, but I wouldn’tbe surprised if this turned out to be true. Despite being based on a comic book, it would really take the wind out of the sails in terms of consequences if a character could be brought back to life after getting shot in the head at point blank range.

What do you think of Moore being cast as the villain of the next film, and are you sad that Firth may not be returning for the sequel? Sound off in the comments down below!

SOURCE: THR