Throughout April, we’re counting down to the release of Marvel’s Iron Man 3 with our picks for the Greatest Comic Book Movies of All Time; here’s #16…
Kick-Ass, 2010.
Directed by Matthew Vaughn.
Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong, Nicolas Cage, Lyndsy Fonseca, Clark Duke, Omari Hardwick and Jason Flymeng.
Matthew Vaughn’s first foray into the world of comic book movies came in 2010 with this adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.’s limited series Kick-Ass.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as high-schooler Dave Lizewski who transforms himself into the ‘real-life superhero’ Kick-Ass, teaming up with fellow costumed crime-fighter Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and his eleven-year-old daughter / killing machine Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) to take on Mark Strong’s mob boss Frank D’Amico.
Shrugging aside controversy over its graphic violence and profanity, the low-budget Kick-Ass was a big success at the box-office and a sequel is set to arrive in cinemas this summer, with director Jeff Wadlow taking over directorial duties for Kick-Ass 2, which sees Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl teaming up with Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey) and the superhero team Justice Forever to do battle with Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s Red Mist, now rebranded as the supervillain The Motherf*cker.
Kick-Ass marks the second appearance in our Top 50 for Matthew Vaughn following X-Men: First Class, which came in at #38, and it’s also the second Millarworld property after Wanted at #47. The film also features a couple of comic book movie veterans in its cast in Mark Strong and Nicolas Cage, although perhaps unsurprisingly there’s no room in our countdown for Green Lantern or either of Cage’s Ghost Rider movies.
Keep up to date with our entire countdown here.
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen – Available now via Amazon.co.uk
Originally published April 10, 2013. Updated November 30, 2022.
