Aaron Johnson Says R-Rated 'Kick-Ass 2' Starts Filming This Fall

While the fan boy and critical community still seems divided on the merits of Matthew Vaughn’s 2010 adaptation of Mark Millar’s “Kick-Ass,” Vaughn has moved onto a more lucrative superhero franchise with the “X-Men: First Class” series as the “Kick-Ass” brand continues to roll along with a sequel in the works.

Now it looks as if “Nowhere Boy” actor Aaron Johnson – who played both the titular hero and his alter ego Dave Lizewski in the original film – has been talking up the sequel with Collider, and he seems pretty eager to hop back into the green scuba suit again with filmmaker Jeff Wadlow behind this one. Johnson confirms that original comic creator Mark Millar may not have been exaggerating too much when he said “Kick-Ass 2” would head into production this summer, with Johnson adding “It’s pretty much set to go, this fall. I think now Chloe [Grace Moretz] and Chris [Mintz-Plasse] are on board. I’m certainly set up to do it. Jeff Wadlow is to direct. Yeah, I think it’s going to happen,” said Johnson.

Though what may “Kick-Ass” fans will want to know is if the film will retain its trademark over-the-top violence and vulgarity, and Johnson confirms that he’s read the script and that it’s a hard R-rating that “keeps the standard, from the first film.” While details are scarce on the plot of “Kick-Ass 2,” we’re guessing it will hew pretty closely to the recent comics in Millar’s “Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall” series, which takes off from the first film/comic with the 11-year-old Hit Girl (Moretz) training Kick-Ass prepare for battle against the Red Mist (Mintz-Plasse) as he gathers a team of super-villains to take down the pair.

We already know that Nicolas Cage is likely set to return in a cameo role as Moretz’s father Damon Macready – who doubles as Batman-like antihero Big Daddy – and most of the other original cast are lining up as well. While there were some new characters added in Millar’s sequel books, we’ll have to wait and see if Wadlow and company adds some more talent to the film to fill those roles. Vaughn is onboard in a executive producer role, so it’ll be interesting to see what he pulls out of Wadlow, who really only has PG-13 fare like instant messenger horror “Cry_Wolf” and mixed martial arts thriller “Never Back Down” to his name. We’ll keep an eye on these developments as “Kick-Ass 2” edges closer to reality in the fall.