Warning: Full spoilers follow for The King’s Man. If you’d like to know if there is a post credits scene in the movie or not, we can tell you that right here: Yes, there is a King’s Man mid-credits scene, but no end credits scene.
The events of The King’s Man (read our review) acts as an origin story for The Kingsman Agency that was first seen in the previous two Matthew Vaughn films based on the comics by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. While The King’s Man is a huge tonal departure from the more outrageous fictional circumstances of the first two Kingsman movies, it’s not completely out of left field that Vaughn involves World War I as part of the agency’s genesis.
The events of the movie follow the conflict created by Matthew Goode’s Shepherd (a.k.a. Captain Morton) as he leads a shadow organization that influences international leaders by recruiting trusted aides and those with private access as spies, such as Rasputin (Rhys Ifans), Erik Jan Hanussen (Daniel Bruhl), Mata Hari (Valerie Pachner) and more. As a Scotsman, The Shepherd wants to punish England and bring down King George V by orchestrating The Great War.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), Shola (Djimon Hounsou), and Polly (Gemma Arterton) work against these efforts and with a spy network of maids, servants, and butlers to extract intelligence and prevent Russia from leaving - and convince the United States to join - England in the Great War.
After Oxford, Shola, and Polly defeat The Shepherd and send President Wilson the film negatives of his seduction by Mata Hari, the United States joins England in The Great War and we jump ahead to Oxford and King George V (one of three Tom Hollander roles) at Buckingham Palace, celebrating the Duke and his late son Conrad (Harris Dickinson). Oxford invites the king to The Kingsman tailor shop to discuss something.
However, history still runs its course and we see that Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates, and Tsar Nicholas II and his family are unfortunately assassinated during a family portrait.
Oxford reveals that he bought The Kingsman shop and converted the upstairs pattern room into the meeting room we know from the original movies. There he establishes The Kingsman Agency, which will be the covert actors working beyond the Treaty of Versailles to preserve peace and life above government oversight. He extends an offer of membership to those seated at the table, all of whose code names are based on the Knights of the Round Table.
(The Arthurian legend is referenced throughout the film because of the tales Conrad loved so much as a child. In the opening scene young Conrad (Alexander Shaw) labels the Duke as King Arthur, his mother Emily (Alexandra Maria Lara) as Guinevere, himself as Lancelot, and Shola as Merlin.)
As they go around the table, we learn their codenames. The Duke of Oxford still continues as Arthur. Polly, the whip-smart, badass woman is Galahad. Lance Corporal Archie Reid (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who swapped places with Conrad at the Front, is Lancelot. The United States Ambassador (Stanley Tucci) is Bedivere, establishing that cross-Atlantic relationship with the yet-to-be-established Statesmen agency that is featured in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. (That agency is named after the Statesman cocktail President Wilson drinks in this film.) Continuing on, King George V takes subordination to Oxford’s Arthur as Percival, and Shola arrives wearing a smart button-down and sweater combo reminiscent of Mark Strong’s look as Merlin in the previous films.
The King’s Man also has a mid-credits scene, but nothing beyond that after the credits.
In the scene, Kaiser Wilhelm’s right-hand man Erik Jan Hanussen (Daniel Bruhl) is the new Shepherd and congratulates August Diehl’s Lenin (in front of a vault filled with gold, mind you) on his assistance in leading the revolution in Russia. Coincidentally referencing his other cinematic universe, Bruhl’s Erik explains that even though one head of their operation is cut off, two more can grow in its place.
Calling back on Lenin’s promise to Morton’s Shepherd to be such an effective and strong left hand that he’ll need to find someone as effective to balance him out, Erik makes good on that challenge and calls in a young mustached man, who - blink and you’ll miss him - was at the Kaiser’s abdication and Tsar’s assassination. In a truly outrageous reveal, this man introduces himself as Adolf Hitler, hinting that any follow-up to this prequel take on The Kingsman series would focus on this shadow network as they create the events that lead to World War II.
Where flamboyant tech billionaires want to control people and/or destroy the world in the Matthew Vaughn films, The King’s Man acts as a thesis for the agency, beyond the gadgets and snazzy suits. The saying “Oxfords, not brogues” in the first two Kingsman movies is derived from the Duke of Oxford explaining the importance of being a gentleman - being “Oxfords, not rogues.”
If you look past the crassness and hyper-violent action scenes of this series, a common theme within Millar’s work involves men of privilege creating something larger than themselves that perpetuates good morals and a good heart (see also: Netflix’s Jupiter’s Legacy). Setting this prequel against a global war emphasizes the value of duty and honor for one’s country, both of which will become qualifying factors for anyone looking to join The Kingsman.
So that was the origin story of the Kingsman Agency. What did you think of The King’s Man? Let us know in the comments!
Continue reading...
The events of The King’s Man (read our review) acts as an origin story for The Kingsman Agency that was first seen in the previous two Matthew Vaughn films based on the comics by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. While The King’s Man is a huge tonal departure from the more outrageous fictional circumstances of the first two Kingsman movies, it’s not completely out of left field that Vaughn involves World War I as part of the agency’s genesis.
The events of the movie follow the conflict created by Matthew Goode’s Shepherd (a.k.a. Captain Morton) as he leads a shadow organization that influences international leaders by recruiting trusted aides and those with private access as spies, such as Rasputin (Rhys Ifans), Erik Jan Hanussen (Daniel Bruhl), Mata Hari (Valerie Pachner) and more. As a Scotsman, The Shepherd wants to punish England and bring down King George V by orchestrating The Great War.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), Shola (Djimon Hounsou), and Polly (Gemma Arterton) work against these efforts and with a spy network of maids, servants, and butlers to extract intelligence and prevent Russia from leaving - and convince the United States to join - England in the Great War.
The King’s Man Ending Explained
After Oxford, Shola, and Polly defeat The Shepherd and send President Wilson the film negatives of his seduction by Mata Hari, the United States joins England in The Great War and we jump ahead to Oxford and King George V (one of three Tom Hollander roles) at Buckingham Palace, celebrating the Duke and his late son Conrad (Harris Dickinson). Oxford invites the king to The Kingsman tailor shop to discuss something.
However, history still runs its course and we see that Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates, and Tsar Nicholas II and his family are unfortunately assassinated during a family portrait.
Oxford reveals that he bought The Kingsman shop and converted the upstairs pattern room into the meeting room we know from the original movies. There he establishes The Kingsman Agency, which will be the covert actors working beyond the Treaty of Versailles to preserve peace and life above government oversight. He extends an offer of membership to those seated at the table, all of whose code names are based on the Knights of the Round Table.
(The Arthurian legend is referenced throughout the film because of the tales Conrad loved so much as a child. In the opening scene young Conrad (Alexander Shaw) labels the Duke as King Arthur, his mother Emily (Alexandra Maria Lara) as Guinevere, himself as Lancelot, and Shola as Merlin.)
As they go around the table, we learn their codenames. The Duke of Oxford still continues as Arthur. Polly, the whip-smart, badass woman is Galahad. Lance Corporal Archie Reid (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who swapped places with Conrad at the Front, is Lancelot. The United States Ambassador (Stanley Tucci) is Bedivere, establishing that cross-Atlantic relationship with the yet-to-be-established Statesmen agency that is featured in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. (That agency is named after the Statesman cocktail President Wilson drinks in this film.) Continuing on, King George V takes subordination to Oxford’s Arthur as Percival, and Shola arrives wearing a smart button-down and sweater combo reminiscent of Mark Strong’s look as Merlin in the previous films.
The King’s Man Mid-Credits Scene: Time to Strengthen the Right Hand
The King’s Man also has a mid-credits scene, but nothing beyond that after the credits.
In the scene, Kaiser Wilhelm’s right-hand man Erik Jan Hanussen (Daniel Bruhl) is the new Shepherd and congratulates August Diehl’s Lenin (in front of a vault filled with gold, mind you) on his assistance in leading the revolution in Russia. Coincidentally referencing his other cinematic universe, Bruhl’s Erik explains that even though one head of their operation is cut off, two more can grow in its place.
Calling back on Lenin’s promise to Morton’s Shepherd to be such an effective and strong left hand that he’ll need to find someone as effective to balance him out, Erik makes good on that challenge and calls in a young mustached man, who - blink and you’ll miss him - was at the Kaiser’s abdication and Tsar’s assassination. In a truly outrageous reveal, this man introduces himself as Adolf Hitler, hinting that any follow-up to this prequel take on The Kingsman series would focus on this shadow network as they create the events that lead to World War II.
Where flamboyant tech billionaires want to control people and/or destroy the world in the Matthew Vaughn films, The King’s Man acts as a thesis for the agency, beyond the gadgets and snazzy suits. The saying “Oxfords, not brogues” in the first two Kingsman movies is derived from the Duke of Oxford explaining the importance of being a gentleman - being “Oxfords, not rogues.”
If you look past the crassness and hyper-violent action scenes of this series, a common theme within Millar’s work involves men of privilege creating something larger than themselves that perpetuates good morals and a good heart (see also: Netflix’s Jupiter’s Legacy). Setting this prequel against a global war emphasizes the value of duty and honor for one’s country, both of which will become qualifying factors for anyone looking to join The Kingsman.
So that was the origin story of the Kingsman Agency. What did you think of The King’s Man? Let us know in the comments!
Continue reading...