The King's Man trailer showcases a bloody, violent R-rated origin tale

Following on from pandemic-induced delays, Matthew Vaughn's spy prequel The King's Man is edging closer to its release date. But in the meantime, this riotous, very R-rated trailer ought to satiate fans.

The movie takes place before the first two installments in Vaughn's franchise, which starred Colin Firth as the suave, sophisticated Harry Hart, who enlists Taron Egerton's uncouth Eggsy into the fold of the secret organization. They stop Samuel L. Jackson from bringing about the apocalypse, a main story which will be revisited in another Kingsman sequel.

For the upcoming prequel, Vaughn is taking things back to the 1900s, where we meet Ralph Fiennes' Orlando Oxford, a duke who works for a secret intelligence committee who act upon threats to security prior to government involvement. And, while the step back in time shakes the scenario up a little, it's not changed the central relationship: Oxford has his own Eggsy, in the form of Harris Dickinson's character of Conrad.

This newest trailer switches the setting but Vaughn and writer Jane Goldman's sense of madcap action blitzed together with almost eccentric violence remains. Compared to the first and second teasers, released in 2019 and 2020, this looks to be ramping up the fights to bloody battles. In The King's Man, the Duke must stop a group of evil masterminds from across the world who unite for a plot to kill millions. If you wanna stop a bunch of tyrants, you've got to expect a little blood, right?

Heads are sliced clean off and roll along the ground. Planes snap in two before exploding into flames. Machetes fly through the air and wedge into torsos. Like most of Vaughn's output, The King's Man appears to continue his trend of cranking things up to 11, with a generous helping of swearing thrown in for good measure.

The King's Man is scheduled for release in cinemas on December 22. Rounding out the cast are Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Djimon Hounsou, Tom Hollander, Daniel Bruhl, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Stanley Tucci, and Charles Dance. Until the movie lands, why not check out our picks of the best Netflix action movies to stream right now?

Gem Seddon is GamesRadar+'s west coast Entertainment News Reporter, working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.