Julianne Moore's Poppy Should Be a Fan Fave in 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle'

The world finally got a look at the much-anticipated Kingsman: The Golden Circle, starring Montauk’s Julianne Moore in the film’s first trailer this week. The movie looks like a blast and Moore’s character should be a standout. Watch below and read our take on what’s to come.

Though Moore only appears briefly in the action-packed trailer for the 20th Century FOX sequel to 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service, the two-minute series of clips set to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” reveals quite a bit about the new movie. First, we see that surviving Kingsman agent and former London chav, Eggsy, played by Taron Egerton (Sing, Eddie the Eagle), is up against some serious problems—both Kingsman headquarters have been destroyed by missiles and the world is held hostage, thanks Moore’s character Poppy, evil overlord of the secret Golden Circle cabal seeking world domination.

It should be noted that Moore’s Poppy only appears for a second in this trailer, but the red-headed baddie also showed up in the first Kingsman: The Golden Circle teaser (see below). If you slow down the barrage of images, Poppy is shown in “PoppyLand” a theme park collection of ultra-Americanized buildings—including an old school American diner, a doughnut shop, hot dog stand, bowling alley, movie theater and more—all located within the jungle ruins of an ancient Aztec or Maya city. We see Poppy watching a movie, bowling, and holding a big, juicy hamburger, leading us to believe she’s going to be some kind of twisted take on a stereotypical, old fashioned American housewife. We also catch a glimpse of glass vials filled with an amber liquid, labeled “Poppy’s Pharmaceuticals.” It’s a safe bet these are part of her plan to subjugate the planet or create a world absolutely anathema to the English ladies and gents of Kingsman.

Now Eggsy and his remaining Kingsman brethren—including his trainer and supervisor Merlin, played by Mark Strong (The Imitation Game, The Brothers Grimsby) and his best pal and fellow young agent Roxy (Sophie Cookson), though it’s quite possible she’s killed in the missile strike—must join their American counterpart organization, Statesman, in a new adventure. Though the Statesman agents are more cowboy than Sean Connery-era James Bond, they’re clearly a tough bunch with plenty of tricks and gadgets at their disposal. But will they really side with Kingsman, or are they secretly part of Poppy’s America-first crew?

Matthew Vaughn returns to the director’s chair for this sequel, which also stars Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry, Elton John and…wait for it…Colin Firth! Yes, it appears Eggsy’s Kingman mentor Harry Hart, aka Galahad, is in fact alive after being shot in the head and presumably killed in the first film. Galahad now has a sweet, Nick Fury-esque eye patch, but the only other thing we see is him shaving, so there’s much to be revealed. Could he be a robot, or life model decoy, like those used by Nick Fury in Marvel comics? Probably not. Galahad is, after all, the baddest man in the agency, so why shouldn’t he be alive?

As seen in the trailer, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, should deliver plenty of thrills, fast-paced action and lots of groovy secret agent gadgets, like a pool table full of weapons, a submarine car (think 007’s “Wet Nellie” Lotus from Roger Moore’s The Spy Who Loved Me, but with more vintage panache), super bull whips—the Statesman equivalent to the Kingsman umbrella, it seems—and a villain with a launching and retractable robot fist in the style of classic Bond bad guys such as Jaws and Oddjob.

In fact, the film’s settings even make reference to past James Bond scenes: A tropical volcano setting could definitely be like SPECTRE head Ernst Stavro Blofeld’s hideout in 1967 Connery sequel You Only Live Twice; and a snow-covered, mountaintop base looks almost identical to Blofeld’s lair in Connery’s 1969 followup On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is due for release in theaters everywhere on September 29, so there’s plenty of time for more clues about the film’s plot and characters. The first film, Kingsman: The Secret Service, earned $414.4 million at the box office, and we expect the sequel to be another huge hit. And it looks like Moore’s character Poppy will be a standout, fan favorite.