The Hollywood Reporter has singled out a passage from director Matthew Vaughn's interview with SFX magazine. In the highlighted section, the Kick-Ass filmmaker speaks about what he perceives to be a shift away from the grim and gritty superhero style popularized by director Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.

"People want fun and escapism at the moment," said Vaughn, whose Kingsman: The Secret Service -- a highly stylized homage to classic British spy films -- hits theaters in February. "Look at the success of Guardians of the Galaxy. I think Nolan kick-started a very dark, bleak style of superhero escapism, and I think people have had enough of it."

Vaughn at least hopes that audiences have had enough of it, because Kingsman admittedly skews much closer in tone to Rocket Raccoon than Batman. "The studio was like, 'What is this -- Austin Powers?' It was a balancing act, but I think we pulled it off," said Vaughn. "[Kingsman] is not a comedy, but it's full of laughs. It's got everything. It's what we did with Kick-Ass -- it's a proper movie, but we're allowed to have a bit more fun with it. Its aim was to be entertaining but not silly."

Kingsman: The Secret Service opens in the United States on February 13.