Mark Strong, star of Disney's Cruella, wants to return to the Kingsman franchise despite his character's death.
In an interview with JoBlo.com, Strong was asked if a return to the Kingsman series is possible. "I don't know, I mean I would love to because I love making those movies and I thought that triumvirate, that collection of, you know, me, Colin [Firth] and Taron [Egerton] was really, it was a great little gang," said Strong.
"I was quite sad, I think as were a lot of people, when he comes to his dynamic end, shall we say, at the end of the second one," admitted the actor. His character Merlin died in 2017's Kingsman: The Golden Circle, sacrificing himself to save his comrades from a land mine.
However, Strong maintains optimism about Merlin's possible reappearance, saying, "I think there is a third one mooted and, you know, in that universe anything can happen, as you well know. You know, I mean Colin got shot in the eye, comes back and he's fine so you know, it's fantasy. So I'm not ruling it out." In August 2020, Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn revealed that he is still considering a third installment to the series.
The next film in the Kingsman series is a prequel called The King's Man, starring Ralph Fiennes and scheduled for release in December. The film takes place during World War I and features the origins of the agency, following the very first Kingsman agent, Fiennes' Oxford, who must save the world from tyrants with the assistance of his son Conrad, played by Harris Dickinson.
In the meantime, Strong is still sticking around the fantasy genre by playing John, The Baroness' valet, in the new Cruella film. "I think, you know, it's not fantasy per se, it's the fact that I like variety. I'm trying to choose as many different things as I can," Strong stated.
Directed by Craig Gillespie, Cruella stars Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Paul Walter Hauser, Joel Fry, Emily Beecham, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Mark Strong. The film is currently available in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access.
Source: YouTube