In news that sounds like more of a big deal than it might end up being, Kingsman star Taron Egerton has revealed that he will not be in the next Kingsman movie—despite having been the main character in the first two movies. Egerton dropped that announcement in an interview with Yahoo, and the specific phrasing he used seems worth noting:
I don’t know how hot off the press this is, and I think I’m allowed to say it, but I’m not in the next Kingsman movie. That doesn’t mean I won’t be in Kingsman ever again. I was with [director Matthew Vaughn] as little as a few days ago, we’re still very much in business together, but his next journey in that world doesn’t involve me.
Pay attention to the fact that he didn’t say “the next Kingsman movie” and not Kingsman 3, as well as his clarification that his time with Kingsman is not necessarily over. We’ll also direct you to a news story from earlier this year in which Vaughn laid out his plans for the future of Kingsman, including an idea for a prequel set in the 1900s called Kingsman: The Great Game. Combine all of this information, and it sounds like the next Kingsman will be The Great Game and not Kingsman 3.
We heard in September that Kingsman 3 had been slotted into Bond 25's old release date of November 8, 2019, but maybe that report only got the story partly correct and it’s the Great Game prequel that’s actually coming out next year. Either that or the main character won’t be in the next movie, which seems less likely.