Though Chloe Grace Moretz couldn't make it – she ended up appearing via satellite video from Boston instead – the rest of the Kick-Ass 2 gang were at Comic-Con’s Hall H this year, including writer-director Jeff Wadlow, comic book creators Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., old hands Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, as well as newcomers Lindy Booth (Night Bitch) and Donald Faison (Dr. Gravity). With them, they brought footage: green band footage that’s about as red band as you can imagine.
Most notably, Mother Russia was shown off. Played by a Russian actress who can’t actually speak English (Olga Kurkulina, who also couldn't make it today), she is approximately seven shades of brutal, crunching bones with aplomb whilst wearing an outfit which isn’t quite as revealing as the comic book version, but just as… intimidating.
Elsewhere in the footage seen, Hit Girl kicks a pair of nunchucks into a goon’s face, chops off a henchman’s hand and tells one of her enemies to “Pull over, puke face.” The sharp tongue is still in force, as shown after a comparison to Robin, where she says, “Robin wishes he was me.” Oh, and she shoots Dave in the back, point blank, with a magnum. Context is key there, so you’ll have to wait for the video to hit the web later today to see all of this for yourself.
Christopher Mintz Plasse’s wearing-his-mother’s-dominatrix-outfit bad guy Motherfucker also got some time to shine, enjoying a few one-liners with John Leguiziamo’s Javier, his assistant: “I’m a supervillain. You’re the Alfred to my evil Bruce Wayne…” Javier: “Did you just call me a butler?” The Motherfucker: “Yeah, is that not a compliment?”
“This is not a rinse and repeat sequel,” says Wadlow, drumming up the fans’ excitement in Hall H. “We really put them through the meat grinder.” Millar goes one step further: “I’ve already seen it and I can tell you it’s five stars – that’s all the review you need.”
Encouragingly, it looks like that the CGI issues some critics complained about when the first saw the first trailer for **Kick-Ass 2 **have been ironed out, with the van break-out scene really standing out. That, and Taylor-Johnson’s abdominal muscles, which have to be fake. Have to be.
**Kick-Ass 2 **hits US screens on August 14, whereas UK folk get their slice of Kick-Assery a little earlier, on August 12.