SPOILER WARNING: the following article contains major spoilers for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, in theaters now.
When trailers started coming out for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, perhaps the most excited reaction was to the introduction of a new team of super-spies, the Statesman. With stars like Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry and Pedro Pascal being introduced as the American equivalent of the Kingsman, many fans were expecting this new team to steal the movie. But while they definitely are stand-outs in the film, the truth is, we just don’t get enough of them. After the credits roll, you’ll probably leave the theater thinking, “I wish I saw more of the Statesmen!” For that reason, and many others, it’s clear that Fox needs to give fans a spin-off film for the group of Kentucky-based spies.
Not Enough Statesmen
If you've only seen the trailers for The Golden Circle, you likely expect that the Statesmen will get just as much screen time as their British counterparts. Well, you’d be sadly mistaken. Within 15 minutes of meeting the Statesmen, Channing Tatum is put on ice. Then, Jeff Bridges doesn’t reappear until much later in the film. This leaves us with Pedro Pascal, arguably the least exciting member of the group, and Halle Berry behind a computer screen. It’s disappointing, to say the least.
The promise of a new group of characters that would bring something new to the franchise simply never materialized. Sure, they exist, but their roles were greatly exaggerated by the marketing. That being said, the little bits that we did see showed that the Statesmen are new, interesting -- and not just Kingsmen with a Southern accent. It’s a shame that the one Statesman that has the most screen-time, Agent Whiskey, has a reveal towards the end that undermines everything you see about the Statesmen beforehand.
In a lesser film, the idea of the Statesmen could be easily written off as Kingsmen with cowboy hats and lassos. Instead, we see that this group of spies has a completely different way of doing things. While the Kingsmen are hiding away in their tailor shops, keeping a low profile, the Statesmen helm one of the biggest corporations in the world. They have a massive distillery, complete with a whiskey bottle-shaped building, as well as a huge skyscraper. Low profile is not something that is in their vocabulary. The Statesmen aren't mild-mannered tailors who carry umbrellas and drive taxis. No, these guys have freaking fighter jets!
When we're introduced to the individual agents, we notice that none of them would likely be accepted as a Kingsman. Agent Tequila likes to party and indulge in certain recreational activities the Kingsman organization would clearly frown upon. Agent Whiskey betrays his team because of his own mission to avenge his lost love and child -- a Kingsman would never dream of betraying their organization. Agent Champagne, aka Champ, is the leader of the Statesman, and he would probably laugh at the stuffy Kingsman members in leadership positions.
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If you look at the greatest spy franchises, it’s hard to put anything on the same level as James Bond. Understandable, since for well over 20 movies, Bond has dominated the spy genre. If you look at American spy franchises, the first two that pop into mind are Bourne and Mission: Impossible, neither of which come close to capturing the magic of classic James Bond. A Statesman film could do just that.
Take Jason Bourne, for example. Comparing him to James Bond, as a character, is completely crazy. He doesn’t have the charisma and flair of Bond. Instead, he's loaded with tons of angst and grittiness. Bourne films feel in a completely different genre than the Bond films. The same could be said of Mission: Impossible. While the spy franchise has shown moments of Bond-ness, later installments have reverted to just being standard Tom Cruise films, with him running a lot and doing whatever crazy stunt he dreams up next. All spectacle, no heart.
Statesman, on the other hand, could finally give American audiences their version of James Bond. The camp, the swagger, the gadgets and, most importantly, the fun of the classic Bond films could be represented in a Statesman spin-off. We see glimpses of that in their small amount of screen time in The Golden Circle. Pedro Pascal basically does his best Kentucky Bond when he flirts with the girl at the music festival. Give audiences more of that! Also, as mentioned above, we don’t need to retread all of the Bond tropes. There are plenty of American action film tropes out there to shatter.
If you promoted a Statesman movie with Channing Tatum, Halle Berry and Jeff Bridges leading the cast, you’re all but guaranteed to have a hit on your hands. Add in a veteran actor as another elder Statesman, in the same capacity as Colin Firth's Harry Hart in Kingsman, and another fun A-list actor as a villain, and suddenly, you have yourself a movie that audiences will be champing at the bit to see. Yes, we know that Tatum is shown joining Kingsman at the end of The Golden Circle, but if they were going to do a Statesman spin-off, obviously Tatum would come back as Agent Tequila.
Just think of the possibilities! Call in Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris (complete with his Walker, Texas Ranger hat), Scarlett Johannson, Uma Thurman or Harrison Ford. Hell, let’s even throw in Clint Eastwood as a villain! This franchise would be the marquee film series for American actors to be self-referential and a little silly. Let’s give them all hats and shotguns!
With movie studios desperate for connected universes and huge franchises, Fox would be remiss inits duty to stockholders not to explore a Statesman movie. Current expectations are that The Golden Circle is going to be a bigger hit than the first, so this is a no-brainer. Go deeper into the mythology and explore these fun characters even more. Fox has had a new franchise handed to it on a golden platter - now it's time to make it happen.