50 Fun Facts About Kingsman

In the first Kingsman film, the spy agency's headquarters sits behind a tailor's shop on which London street?

Savile Row doubled as Kingsman's front door, and the look sold: the director worked with retailer Mr Porter on a 60-piece clothing line based on the film's costumes.

Which rock anthem, chosen for its long guitar solo, scores the church fight in the first Kingsman film?

Free Bird was the second choice: the director first planned to use November Rain, then found its solo too short and went searching online for great long American guitar solos.

Which actor gave Kingsman villain Richmond Valentine a lisp, inspired by his own childhood stutter?

Samuel L. Jackson's Valentine meets a fittingly sharp end: Eggsy kills him with one of the prosthetic blades worn by his own henchwoman, Gazelle, which shuts off the deadly signal.

Which music legend plays himself, kidnapped by drug baron Poppy Adams, in Kingsman: The Golden Circle?

Elton John does more than cameo: held captive in Poppy's hideout, he helps Harry Hart destroy her robotic attack dogs.

Tilde, the princess Valentine jails in the first Kingsman film, is heir to which country's throne?

Sweden gains an unlikely royal in the sequel, when Eggsy marries Princess Tilde after saving her from Poppy's toxin.

What does Kingsman villain Richmond Valentine give away worldwide to spread his rage-inducing signal?

SIM cards put Valentine's signal in pockets everywhere, and he tries it out on a church congregation, who turn uncontrollably violent.

Statesman, Kingsman's American counterpart, poses as a bourbon distillery in which US state?

Kentucky is where Eggsy and Merlin learn that Harry Hart survived being shot, and Statesman later returns the favour by buying a distillery to help rebuild Kingsman.

A shelved Kingsman teaser would have gathered every actor who had played which famous screen spy?

James Bond's actors were to share a toast and talk about a new generation of spies, but the idea fell apart because Sean Connery was too ill to take part.

Which country banned Kingsman: The Golden Circle because the villain's lair is one of its ruined temples?

Cambodia is home to Poppy Land, the hideout where Poppy Adams runs the world's largest drug cartel and keeps a kidnapped pop star.

Which future dictator appears as a young assassin meeting Lenin in the mid-credits scene of The King's Man?

Adolf Hitler is unmasked as the assassin who had been sent to execute the Romanov family, and the credits list him only as Moustached Man.

Which actor plays Harry Hart, the veteran spy who gets Eggsy out of a police cell and into Kingsman?

Colin Firth's return for the sequel was first signalled by a poster showing only Harry's glasses, three months before it was officially confirmed.

Which Welsh actor, cast as Eggsy a year after drama school, won Empire's Best Male Newcomer for Kingsman?

Taron Egerton went from an appearance in the crime drama Lewis to the lead of a film that grossed over $400 million, then returned as Eggsy for the 2017 sequel.

Which actress plays Poppy Adams, the cartel boss who destroys Kingsman's headquarters with missiles?

Julianne Moore's villain poisons her own product, then offers the antidote only if the US president ends the war on drugs and grants her cartel immunity.

Which Arthurian codename does Harry Hart hold in the Kingsman films before his protégé Eggsy inherits it?

Galahad passes from Harry to Eggsy, and the prequel gives the very first use of the title to Polly Wilkins, a maid turned founding agent.

Which fellow recruit befriends Eggsy and beats him to the Lancelot seat in Kingsman: The Secret Service?

Roxy wins the seat when Eggsy balks at his last trial, and she proves her worth at once by destroying one of Valentine's satellites.

Which film, opening the same weekend, beat the first Kingsman film to the top of the US box office?

Fifty Shades of Grey took the weekend, though Kingsman still made $36.2 million in three days. In Britain it had also opened in second place, behind Big Hero 6.

In the first Kingsman film, Valentine's plan to cull most of humanity is his answer to which problem?

Climate change is the cause Valentine claims to serve, and he spares the wealthy backers and world leaders who accept his protective implants.

Which actor plays Orlando Oxford, the widowed duke who founds the spy agency in the prequel The King's Man?

Ralph Fiennes was also an executive producer on the prequel, and the director had to deny a report that Liam Neeson had joined him in the cast.

Which historical figure, played by Rhys Ifans, is killed at a Christmas party in The King's Man?

Grigori Rasputin poisons the Tsar's young son and then cures him, a ruse to make Nicholas promise to pull Russia out of the war.

The King's Man follows Orlando Oxford as he tries to keep his son Conrad from fighting in which conflict?

World War I claims Conrad anyway: he swaps places with another soldier to reach the front, and is shot by a comrade who takes him for a German spy.

Which screen veteran plays Arthur, the Kingsman chief who secretly sides with Valentine in the first film?

Michael Caine's Arthur gives himself away with an implant scar on his neck, and Eggsy leads him to poison himself. Michael Gambon holds the title in the sequel.

Which Star Wars actor plays James Arnold, the kidnapped professor in the first Kingsman film?

Mark Hamill appears as himself in the comic the film is based on, so casting him as the professor was an in-joke for readers. In the comic, James Arnold is the villain's name.

Which filmmaker, who earlier directed Layer Cake and Kick-Ass, directed and co-wrote all three Kingsman films?

Matthew Vaughn also had a hand in the original comic: he is credited as its co-creator, and his own company, Marv, produced the films.

Which actor plays Merlin, the Kingsman tech operative who supervises Eggsy's training?

Mark Strong's Merlin is really named Hamish Mycroft, and the prequel reveals that the first holder of the codename was Shola, a butler.

In Kingsman: The Secret Service, what does Harry Hart give young Eggsy, engraved with an emergency number?

A medal is Harry's way of repaying a debt: Eggsy's father, a Kingsman candidate, died saving him, and seventeen years later Eggsy calls the number after being arrested.

What does Eggsy refuse to shoot in his final Kingsman test, costing him the Lancelot seat?

His puppy was never in danger, because the gun held only blanks. Eggsy had raised the dog through training on the agency's orders.

Which drink is the codename of the Statesman agent Channing Tatum plays in the Kingsman sequel?

Tequila is replaced as Eggsy's partner when he breaks out in a blue rash, but ends the film taking an exchange assignment at Kingsman in London.

Which actor plays Agent Whiskey, the Statesman man who betrays Eggsy and Harry in the Kingsman sequel?

Pedro Pascal's character goes by Jack Daniels, and he wants every drug user dead because addicts killed his pregnant wife in a robbery.

Statesman technology saves Kingsman's Harry Hart from a gunshot but leaves him with which condition?

Amnesia keeps Harry out of action until Eggsy and Merlin find a way to jolt his memories back, with help from Statesman's Ginger Ale.

Whose hit Take Me Home, Country Roads runs through the Kingsman sequel's score, sung once by Merlin's actor?

John Denver co-wrote the song with Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, and the film liked him enough to use his Annie's Song as well.

Which former Madonna backup dancer plays Gazelle, the Kingsman assassin with bladed prosthetic legs?

Sofia Boutella danced for Madonna for six years, including at the 2012 Super Bowl, and Kingsman was the first major film of her acting career.

Which comics writer, whose series Wanted and Kick-Ass also became films, co-created the comic behind Kingsman?

Mark Millar dreamed it up in a bar with the films' future director, as the two lamented that spy movies had become too serious.

Dave Gibbons, who drew the comic behind Kingsman, is best known as the artist of which 1980s series?

Watchmen, launched in 1986, is the only graphic novel on Time's Top 100 Novels list; Gibbons drew The Secret Service a quarter of a century later.

Which superhero sequel did Kingsman's director give up directing so he could make the spy film?

X-Men: Days of Future Past would have followed his own First Class, and he called leaving it a really tough decision, made for fear that someone else would get to a fun spy movie first.

Which star was reported to be in talks to play the first Kingsman villain, a rumour the director denied?

Leonardo DiCaprio was never in the frame, the director said, and the part went to an actor who saw it as his chance to play a great spy-movie villain.

Which star was newcomer Sophie Cookson reportedly chosen over for the female lead in the first Kingsman film?

Emma Watson and Bella Heathcote were both passed over, because the director preferred a less established actor for the part.

Which actress plays Ginger Ale, the Statesman tech expert who inherits Whiskey's post in the Kingsman sequel?

Halle Berry was first reported to be playing the head of the CIA, before the role turned out to be Statesman's own tech support.

Which actor plays Champagne, the Statesman leader nicknamed Champ, in Kingsman: The Golden Circle?

Jeff Bridges joined the cast shortly after filming had begun, and his Champ is the one who tells Eggsy and Merlin about the Golden Circle cartel.

At which music festival does Eggsy plant a tracker on a henchman's ex-girlfriend in the Kingsman sequel?

Glastonbury is where the mission collides with Eggsy's love life: telling Princess Tilde about it puts a strain on their relationship.

How does Merlin die at Poppy's hideout in the Kingsman sequel, after swapping places with Eggsy?

On a land mine that Eggsy had stepped on first: Merlin switches places with him and stays behind so that the others can storm the lair.

The Shepherd, the villain of The King's Man, sets three empires against each other to free which country?

Scotland is the cause behind the whole plot: the Shepherd turns out to be Morton, a British army officer who faked his own death.

Which real German message, urging Mexico to invade the United States, does Polly decipher in The King's Man?

The Zimmermann Telegram fails to move President Wilson at first, because the villains are blackmailing him with compromising film footage.

Which actor plays King George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II, all cousins, in The King's Man?

Tom Hollander's King George also ends the film as a founding member of the agency, taking the codename Percival.

Which British war secretary, played by Charles Dance, dies when HMS Hampshire is torpedoed in The King's Man?

Lord Kitchener really was lost at sea with HMS Hampshire in 1916; the film turns the sinking into an assassination arranged by his own aide.

Which spy caper, released by Universal and Apple, is a Kingsman spin-off from the same director?

Argylle follows a spy novelist whose plots start to mirror real events, and its mid-credits scene reveals a young Argylle as a Kingsman agent.

Which real London tailor lent its shopfront to Kingsman's headquarters and clothing to the first film?

Huntsman provided clothing as well as its exterior, while the hats came from James Lock & Co., where some scenes were also shot.

Which Swiss watchmaker's Connected smartwatch became the official watch of the Kingsman agents?

TAG Heuer struck the deal with the studio in May 2017, one of a run of tie-ins that also put the Kingsman name on a London dry gin.

Which British singer performs Measure of a Man, the ending theme of The King's Man, with rapper Central Cee?

FKA Twigs recorded the theme for the first Kingsman soundtrack made without composer Henry Jackman, who had co-scored both earlier films.

Which real bourbon brand released a Statesman edition of its whiskey to tie in with the Kingsman sequel?

Old Forester bottled its Statesman edition at 95 proof for the US market, while GlenDronach made a Kingsman whisky from 1991 casks, the fictional year of Eggsy's birth.

In the original comic behind Kingsman, the veteran spy who recruits young Gary is which relative of his?

His uncle, Jack London, does the recruiting in the comic, whereas the film made the pair strangers linked only by Eggsy's late father.