Writer-director Matthew Vaughn may have made a name for himself early on by putting his spin on superheroes, but in recent years, he has leaned into a specific brand of spy story-telling. While popular franchises like Kingsman are certainly James Bond-coded, Vaughn’s filmmaking style is more carefree and meta.
This trait has easily transferred into his spy fim, Argylle. Based on the book by Elly Conway, Vaughn’s film takes a different approach to adaptation. The film features Conway as a character, portrayed by Bryce Dallas Howard, who discovers that her titular spy character may actually be real when the CIA enlists her help with a mission. Vaughn is no stranger to winking at the audience in such a way.
Kingsman has direct references to James Bond and sets out to tick off many tropes of the genre. Tongue-in-cheek humor crops up in most of Vaughn’s work, but there may be something more than connects Kingsman and a potential Argylle franchise.
Is Argylle part of the Kingsman universe?
Like many of Vaughn’s films, Kingsman is adapted from fan-favorite source material. Based on the comic of the same name by Mark Millar, Vaughn brought to life the character Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) who discovers that he is part of an impressive legacy. A modern representation of King Arthur’s Round Table, Eggsy trains to join the organization and become a master spy.
An organization such as this would not exactly feel out of place in the world of Argylle. Both feature furry friends the protagonists must take care of in the form of Elly’s cat and Eggsy’s pug. The tone of both films is comparable, making many wonder if these films take place in the same universe. This theory is more or less confirmed in the post-credit sequence that always seems to accompany blockbusters these days.
The scene takes place two decades earlier as a young spy enters a bar. The bar just so happens to be called The Kings Man, a less-than-subtle acknowledgment of the popular franchise. While this could have been just another wink at the audience, Vaughn told Polygon that Argylle and Kingsman may have a shared universe after all.
“Well, they both exist in my head, so that is the universe! I will say that Argylle wears very well-cut suits. That’s all I’ll say for the time being.”
A classic vague answer that directors love to utilize, Vaughn’s comments may be more than a noncommittal answer. The end of the scene teases the possibility of an Argylle movie, which could give Vaughn even more opportunity to merge the universes definitively. And if not, there is always Kingsman 3.