'The King's Man' teases 'bloody origin' of titular spy agency with new footage ahead of winter premiere

Shine your shoes, put on your most expensive suit, affix a monocle to one of your peepers, and check out the latest sneak peek at The King's Man. The movie, which serves as a prequel to the first two Kingsman films, was originally supposed to open in the fall of 2020, but was ultimately delayed to December 2021 due to theater closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Matthew Vaughn returns as writer and director, working off a screenplay he crafted with Karl Gajdusek (Oblivion).

Set during World War I, The King's Man will explain how the secret spy agency of debonair gentlemen — and gentlewomen — came to be. Ralph Fiennes stars as the Duke of Oxford, leader of the Kingsman. They're trying to stop history's biggest criminals (Rhys Ifans' Rasputin among them) from exacerbating the global conflict for financial gain.

Watch the trailer/featurette below:

Harris Dickinson plays the Duke's young son, Conrad, who is brought into the espionage fold, which includes agents like Shola (Djimon Hounsou) and Polly (Gemma Arterton). Matthew Goode (Watchmen), Tom Hollander (Pirates of the Caribbean), Daniel Brühl (Captain America: Civil War), and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), Stanley Tucci (The Witches) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Tenet) co-star. It's been rumored that Taylor-Johnson is playing an ancestor of Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton), who is recruited by the organization more than a century later.

During an interview published last summer, Vaughn teased that The King's Man helps lay the groundwork for the third Kingsman film that will close out the character arcs of Eggsy and Harry Hart (Colin Firth).

"We've put seeds for what's going to happen in Kingsman 3 all the way back into this," the director said. "And it's going to be very different." He went on to say that he doesn't know if he'll be the one to close out the trilogy, but he's definitely considering it. "I actually don't know what I want to do," he added. "There is an opportunity for a director to really change it up, but I'm considering it. But we need to make because I don't want Colin in a Zimmer frame [a walker], or Eggsy in nappies [adult diapers]. So we need to get on with it."

The King's Man climbs out of the trenches and onto the battlefield Wednesday, Dec. 22.