Director Matthew Vaughn is reportedly zeroing in on a young actor to star opposite Colin Firth in The Secret Service, adaptation of the comic book by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons.

According to Variety, Fox is expected to begin negotiations soon with newcomer Taron Egerton to play Gary, the working-class nephew and protege of super-spy Jack London (Firth). The website also reports that Bella Heathcote (Dark Shadows) and Emma Watson (Harry Potter) are being eyed for the female lead and that Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio have passed on the villain part.

In an interview with /Film, Millar also confirmed that Michael Caine will be involved. "It’s all written now and they start shooting in five weeks or something," the writer said. "All the cast is done. Michael Caine is the head of this spy organization. Colin Firth is the senior guy and a new young guy coming in who’s [unintelligible]. So it’s My Fair Lady meets James Bond. It’s… I don’t know what Americans would call it, but a chav, the street kids, somebody who’s a kind of hoodie or something. It’s a scummy kid who’s being trained to be a British gentleman spy."

The Secret Service opens Nov. 14, 2014.