The new, red-band trailer for ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ is bloody fun

Matthew Vaughn’s over-the-top spin on super-spy films in 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service was a surprise hit, and from the looks of the new, red-band trailer for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the sequel has found a way to maintain that momentum for yet another adventure.

20th Century Fox released the new trailer for The Golden Circle ahead of the studio’s panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego. The red-band trailer not only offers a bit more brutal, bloody action — including several scenes of nameless henchmen getting shot by Taron Egerton’s suave secret agent Eggsy, and one henchman being cut in half by an agent wielding an energy lasso — it also includes a few more scenes featuring Colin Firth, Eggsy’s mentor from the first film.

The Golden Circle cast members Egerton, Firth, Halle Berry, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, and Pedro Pascal are expected to attend the film’s panel event at San Diego Comic-Con along with screenwriter Jane Goldman and the co-creator of the Kingsman comic book that the series is based on, Dave Gibbons.

Vaughn returns as director for The Golden Circle, which has Egerton’s secret agent Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (codenamed “Galahad”) reuniting with Mark Strong’s tech expert Merlin for an adventure set across the ocean in the U.S. After a powerful organization calling itself “The Golden Circle” destroys the headquarters of the Kingsman and enacts a diabolical global scheme, the remaining agents are forced to ally themselves with their counterparts in the American-based spy group known Statesman.

The Statesman organization is led by Bridges’ agent codenamed “Champagne,” and the group’s roster includes Tatum as an agent codenamed “Tequila” and Pascal as an agent codenamed “Whiskey.” The group’s tech expert — and the American counterpart to Strong’s Merlin — is a character code-named “Ginger” and played by Berry.

Also returning from the first film is Sophie Cookson as Kingsman agent Roxanne “Roxy” Morton (aka “Lancelot”), and Hanna Alström as Princess Tilde of Sweden. Additional newcomers include Julianne Moore as the head of The Golden Circle, Vinnie Jones as her powerful bodyguard, and Elton John playing a mysterious cameo in the film.

The first Kingsman movie earned $128.2 million in U.S. theaters and $414.3 million worldwide to go along with positive reviews from both professional critics and general audiences.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is scheduled to hit theaters September 22.