The King’s Man Reminds Us it Still Exists With New Trailer, December Release Date

Don’t look now, but we’re beginning to approach another release date for one of the most oft-delayed Hollywood films in recent memory: The King’s Man. The prequel to the action-packed Kingsman series has been one of the unluckiest films out there during the pandemic era, although the initial missed release date for The King’s Man actually predated any serious worries about the pandemic in the U.S., having originally been supposed to arrive in Nov. 2019. Currently, it’s scheduled for Dec. 22, 2021, which will put it roughly 25 months after that initial release date. It’s no wonder that 20th Century Studios wanted to put out a new trailer, in order to remind audiences that this film still exists and has never actually seen the light of day.

The entire history of The King’s Man delays is an impressive one, as it has had no fewer than eight different release dates so far. At various points, it has been meant to come out in Nov. 2019, Feb. 2020, Sept. 2020, Feb. 2021, March 2021, Aug. 2021 and Dec. 2021. Filming happened in early 2019.

As a reminder, The King’s Man takes place in the early 1900s, and documents the beginning of the super-sophisticated (and independent) international espionage and intelligence agency known as the Kingsman. Ralph Fiennes steps in here as “Orlando Oxford, Duke of Oxford,” neatly filling the “deadly British gentleman” role played by Colin Firth in the original film, and unsurprisingly he has his own protégé to train. We can’t help but wonder if this will all seem extremely familiar, especially with a synopsis like the following: “As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man and his protégé must race against time to stop them.”

Still, the new trailer seen below looks absolutely packed with action, and there’s some goofy novelties to be seen here, like a gun-sword straight out of Final Fantasy VIII. The King’s Man can also boast the type of big, impressive ensemble cast that has typified the series, including Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans (as Rasputin!), Matthew Goode, Djimon Honsou, Stanley Tucci, Charles Dance, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Tom Hollander and Daniel Brühl among others. We wouldn’t be surprised if the film ended up watchable for that reason alone. Check out the full trailer below, and place your bets for if The King’s Man ends up making this December release date.