For the past seven years, filmmaker Matthew Vaughn has been scratching his spy film itch with his ‘Kingsman’ franchise. Over the course of three films (the third of which, “The King’s Man,” arriving this week, read our review here), Vaughn has shown himself to be a pretty solid director of superspy material. However, with his film pedigree and his British-ness, Vaughn doesn’t think the producers of the James Bond films will be calling anytime soon.
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Speaking to Comicbook.com, Matthew Vaughn talked about the possibility of directing a James Bond feature. More specifically, he doesn’t think it’ll ever happen because he doesn’t think the film franchise producers want anything to do with him.
“I don’t think the Bond people would touch me with a stick. I don’t think—They don’t like me. I don’t know,” explained Vaughn. “You know, to be blunt. I love Bond. It’s obviously a huge influence on me…You wait till you see ‘Argylle.’”
For those unaware, “Argylle” is the upcoming action-thriller about an amnesiac superspy. The film stars Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, and Rob Delaney. And apparently, Vaughn believes the fact that he landed Henry Cavill for the lead role is a bit of a coup, as he is one of the names constantly brought up to play James Bond after Daniel Craig departs the role.
Vaughn added, “But Henry Cavill, that man was born to play Bond. When you see how he is in [‘Argylle’], I was just like, ‘Wow, this guy is everything you’d imagine Bond to have been, or be.’”
Maybe Cavill, like Vaughn, is living out his superspy desires with “Arylle.” Perhaps that means Cavill isn’t all that interested in playing Bond in a future film. Regardless, those hoping to see Matthew Vaughn and Henry Cavill take on a James Bond film might have to settle for an original spy thriller, instead.
“Argylle” doesn’t have an official release date but may arrive in 2022. “The King’s Man,” however, will hit theaters on December 22.