"How come nobody's ever tried to be a superhero?" When Dave Lizewski, an ordinary New York teenager, dons a green and yellow internet-bought wetsuit to become the no- nonsense vigilante Kick-Ass, he soon finds an answer to his own question:  because it hurts. But, overcoming all the odds, the overly eager Dave quickly becomes a phenomenon, capturing the imagination of the public. However, he's not the only superhero out there - the fearless and highly-trained father/daughter crime-fighting duo Big Daddy and Hit Girl have been slowly but surely taking down the criminal empire of local Mafioso Frank D'Amico. As Kick-Ass gets drawn into their no-holds-barred world of bullets and bloodletting with Frank's son, Chris, now reborn as Kick-Ass' arch-nemesis Red Mist, the stage is set for a final showdown between the forces of good and evil in which the DIY hero will have to live up to his name. Or die trying…

Directed by Matthew Vaughn, from a screenplay by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn, and based on the comic written by Mark Millar and John S.

INTRODUCTION
Every superhero story has an Evil Genius, and this is no exception. This particular Evil Genius, however, doesn't wear a cape, or live in a hollowed-out volcano, or plan appalling atrocities that will bring society to its knees. What he does, instead, is write compulsively readable, often perversely funny and deeply twisted comic books.  From his radical reinvention of Superman's origin, Red Son, to his re-imagination of Marvel's premier superhero team The Avengers into The Ultimates, to Wanted, the villains-as-heroes punk-tinged series that led to a hit film in 2008, starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie, the Evil Genius in this case is Mark Millar.
And one day he had an idea that would not only become Kick-Ass the comic book, but KICK-ASS, the Major Motion Picture. "I'll draw something and then work out the story organically around it," says Millar. "I had a drawing of two superheroes - a young girl dressed like Robin and a big guy dressed like Batman. I loved those characters and decided to put them into something, but I thought they were too out there to be the leads.
"Then I started to do autobiographical stuff - I had this notion when I was fourteen, of becoming a crime fighter in Glasgow. I thought it would be interesting to tell the story of that, had it happened. So then I had a drawing of a superhero going out on his first night, and getting stabbed and run over by a cab. Then I realized the two projects belonged together."
And lo, Kick-Ass - in which Millar asks the question, 'why does nobody ever try to become a superhero?' and answers it with a barrage of extraordinary violence, bizarre characters and insanely quotable dialogue - was born. He started to work on the creator-owned comic with artist, John S. Romita Jr. but then, buoyed by the success of WANTED, decided to explore the possibility of bringing his new baby to the big screen before barely a panel had been drawn.
So he picked up the phone and called his old pal, the TV presenter and comic book nut Jonathan Ross, about his idea. Ross, in turn, then told his wife, Jane Goldman, the co-writer of STARDUST.
"I think that Mark has had millions of brilliant ideas, but I could see why he was particularly excited and I shared his excitement," says Goldman. "It is one of those ideas that makes you ask 'God, has nobody done that? That's insane!' The very basic story of someone who loves superheroes deciding to give it a try without having any powers simply hadn't been done before."
From there, Goldman tipped off her writing partner and STARDUST director Matthew Vaughn, who was already looking for his next movie, and KICK-ASS seemed to fit the bill.
"I was a fan of Mark's work," says Vaughn. "We got on really well. He pitched it to me and the concept was great. He came down to my house - all the best creative meetings for me take place there - and we sat down over an afternoon and plotted the whole movie.  That same day I told him 'I'm in!'"
And that, as they say, was that. KICK-ASS had its Evil Genius, and now it had its Hero.

FROM PAGE TO SCREEN?  NOT QUITE
From the beginning, KICK-ASS was different from previous comic book movies given that it wasn't based on a long-time property - in fact, the movie was in development at the same time as the comic. By the time the movie started filming, Kick-Ass issue 3 had come out. By the time filming ended, issue 5 was on the stands. And the final issue - issue 8 - was released only a couple of months ago, as Vaughn put the finishing touches on the film.
This meant that the line between the comic and the movie blurred more than any on previous effort, as Vaughn and Goldman worked closely with Millar and his artist, John S. Romita Jr. - who also drew an animated comic book sequence in the movie which explains the origin of Big Daddy and Hit Girl - to craft not only the plot of both, but also to make sure that the look crossed over.  Kick-Ass' costume looks virtually identical in both iterations, for example, because of the way these two teams collaborated from the beginning. "In a weird way, I found it quite exhilarating because lots of good ideas and experiments were happening at the same time," says Vaughn. "It lifted the script and I think it lifted the comic - it was like a great game of tennis."
But Vaughn and Goldman were also keen that their movie wouldn't simply be a carbon copy of Millar's book. Handily, by the time they started writing the script, Millar had only plotted up to issue 3, giving the screenwriters a chance to take their KICK-ASS in a different direction. So the back-story of Nicolas Cage's Big Daddy is markedly different from the comic book version, to name but one example, while the climax of Vaughn's film is more explosive.
Once Vaughn had committed to the idea of writing KICK-ASS, he and Goldman got a script together very quickly, with Vaughn writing a first draft focusing on structure and story before Goldman added the dialogue and characterization. "I love writing with Jane," says Vaughn. "I'm the guy who draws the blueprint of the house and she comes along and goes, 'that's a pretty good house, but I can make it a lot better. She turns it into a proper home. I'd be pretty lost without her."
And now, with script in hand, it was time for KICK-ASS to kick some ass. There was just one problem, though: nobody wanted to take a chance on it.  Like Wanted, Kick-Ass was an independent, creator-owned and controlled comic that basically gave Millar carte blanche to do what he wanted, and Vaughn was determined to apply the same ideas to his movie version, even if that meant including scenes where an eleven year-old girl mows down scores of heavily armed men with a plethora of weaponry and scores of middle-digit attitude.  Hollywood's major studios, however, saw things differently.
"They all said no," recalls Vaughn. "To their credit, most of them were just a straight no, bloody quickly, which doesn't normally happen. Normally, they procrastinate. And most of them said they liked the concept, but only if it was done in a PG-13 manner… with no Hit Girl."
More determined than ever, Vaughn decided to fund KICK-ASS independently.  The money was quickly raised, and KICK-ASS started filming in September 2008, at Elstree Studios, London, and various locations in Toronto (doubling for New York). From there, Vaughn labored away at the film, finessing it with additional photography, including a beefed-up climax. He brought incredibly crowd-pleasing clips to the San Diego Comic-Con in July of last year, and again to Empire magazine's Movie-Con in London last August, which set chat sites ablaze and fanboys' tongues wagging. "But there was still a time when I thought we might not get distribution," he admits.
With the movie in the can, Vaughn started showing the finished product to studios. With its colorful fight scenes, punkish attitude and incessant stream of great jokes brought to life, two studios - Lionsgate in the United States and Universal in the UK - agreed to distribute the film.

CASTING KICK-ASS
It would have been mighty difficult for Vaughn to make KICK-ASS without… Kick-Ass. Yet, with the film deep in pre-production, that's exactly the scenario he faced, with Vaughn unable to find an actor to fill the yellow boots of his hero, hapless-teen-turned-plucky-hero, Dave Lizewski.
"I nearly put the movie back six months," says Vaughn. "We'd cast all the other roles, but without the right guy as Dave? Forget it."
Vaughn had imposed an edict: the role of Dave, a New York teenager, would not be played by a Brit. "I was paranoid - as a British filmmaker shooting this in England with a British cast, we would do a Dick van Dyke in reverse," laughs Vaughn. "But the problem is that these guys were screen-testing, and they could do the geeky guy, but the scenes with emotion and heart? There would be nothing."  Read more

BIG DADDY & HIT GIRL
If you think that the relationship between Kick-Ass and Red Mist is complicated, you ain't seen nothing yet. Meet Damon Macready and Mindy Macready, a father and daughter with one heck of a secret: when they're not making hot chocolate with marshmallows for each other, they operate as Big Daddy and Hit Girl, highly-trained, heavily-armed costumed vigilantes, committing the organized attacks on D'Amico's crew that he erroneously pins on Kick-Ass.  Alone, they're formidable - Big Daddy can take out a warehouse full of goons without even breaking a sweat, while Hit Girl is a dab hand with a samurai sword and ninja throwing stars - but together they may just be unstoppable, and one of the most remarkable superhero tag-teams to grace the silver screen. Read more

HIT GIRL ATTACKS
It's the moment that defines Kick-Ass' attitude, the line that will assure the film its place in the zeitgeist. When Kick-Ass is overwhelmed by goons following an ill-advised trip to a drug den to warn a thug off his would-be girlfriend, he is given a surprising reprieve when his attacker is speared through the stomach by a samurai sword.  As he drops out of frame, we see Hit Girl--for the first time in her full costume, replete with purple Clara Bow wig--assume battle pose and deliver a line including a word that begins with C. We won't repeat it here, but suffice to say it's very rude. It's a show-stopping moment, adapted precisely from the comic, but one that nearly didn't happen. Read more

TRUE BELIEVERS
In many ways, KICK-ASS is the ultimate comic book movie. Like the Millar/Romita Jr. comic, KICK-ASS is stuffed to the gills with references to comic books and other superhero movies. "With no power comes no responsibility" is a play on Spider-Man's catchphrase, "with great power comes great responsibility." There are also multiple references to Batman and Superman, and the movie constantly plays with the tropes and conventions of the genre.
"It's a love letter to comic books," says Vaughn, echoing a phrase used by both Goldman and Millar. "It's a post-modern comic book movie, it's a comic book movie for now. I feel that comic book movies have become creaky. You can't get away with cookie-cutter superhero movies anymore, and I feel that kids are going to relate to this."
As a result it was important that the tone be cheeky but reverent for Vaughn, and that the subversions of the conventions of the superhero genre be playful. "There is definitely an element of parody in there but it comes from a place of great affection.  It's about paying homage to something that I love rather than holding it up for ridicule."
"I wanted to steep it in the comic book world," adds Vaughn. "It was about deconstructing everything I loved. Not destroying it. There's not one negative aspect to the way that any of these characters, apart from Frank, is depicted. He's the only one who's got a problem with superheroes. Everyone else thinks they're cool."

ABOUT THE KICK-ASS FILMMAKERS

Matthew Vaughn (Director/Producer/Screenplay) is a leading British filmmaker who has produced, written and directed an impressive array of films.  Vaughn began his career as producer with Guy Ritchie's LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS and SNATCH (Brad Pitt) which received wide acclaim. Through his production company MARV Films, Vaughn's directorial debut was LAYER CAKE starring Daniel Craig. STARDUST followed (Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer) which Vaughn directed and co-wrote with writing partner Jane Goldman. 2009 saw Vaughn produce HARRY BROWN (Michael Caine) and THE DEBT (Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington) which Vaughn also wrote.

Jane Goldman (Screenplay/Co-Producer), a novelist, screenwriter and television presenter, is known in the UK as the host of the series "Jane Goldman Investigates," in which she explores the mysteries of the paranormal.
As a novelist, Goldman has garnered accolades for Dreamworld, a riveting thriller set against a sprawling Florida theme park hiding fantastical secrets.  Among her several non-fiction works is The X-Files Book of the Unexplained.
A good friend of Neil Gaiman, she appears as a character in his short story The Facts in the Case of the Disappearance of Miss Finch. Goldman also co-wrote STARDUST and THE DEBT with Matthew Vaughn.

Mark Millar (Based on the Comic Book written by/Executive Producer) has written some of the most successful English-language comics of the last few years and has, for six years running, been the best-selling British writer working in America.
His current projects are Ultimates 2 with artist Bryan Hitch, Ultimate Fantastic Four with artist Greg Land, and Marvel Civil War with artist Steve McNiven. Civil War has been Marvel's bestselling series in over a decade and was featured on everything from CNN to MTV in June 2006, for the public unmasking of Spider-Man. Millar is also a senior writer/story consultant at Marvel Entertainment in New York and the creator of his independent Millarworld line of books. Millarworld was launched in 2004 as a means of generating new, creator-owned properties for comics, television and movies.
The first of these titles was Wanted, adapted for the screen in 2008, starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie, and grossing $340m worldwide. 
Millar was born in Coatbridge, Scotland, on December 24, 1969. Growing up, he was into all the same time-wasting pursuits you were into and so, when the opportunity arose, he dropped out of university in the final year of his degree and became a full-time writer. After stints at 2000AD and DC Comics and a brief foray into British television, Millar's first real success was The Authority for Wildstorm Productions and a subsequent string of hits at Marvel. These started with the creation of Ultimate X-Men and The Ultimates before being followed by Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Wolverine, and Civil War. Outside of Marvel, he created the bestselling Superman: Red Son graphic novel, Wanted, Chosen, and The Unfunnies.
Millar is currently writing two major superhero screenplays. In his downtime, he writes a monthly Millarworld column for his friends at SFX magazine and occasional pieces for a variety of British newspapers and magazines.

John S. Romita Jr. (Based on the Comic Book written by/Executive Producer) began his career at Marvel UK, doing sketches for covers of reprints. He made his American debut with Chaos at the Coffee Bean!, a story within the Amazing Spider-Man Annual #11 (1977).
Romita's early popularity began with his work on Iron Man in 1978, and in the early 80s, he had his first regular run on the Amazing Spider-Man series.  During that time he was also the artist for the launch of the Dazzler series, and had a run on the popular Uncanny X-Men.  He would return for a second well-received run on Uncanny X-Men in 1993.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Romita enjoyed an extended stint on Daredevil with writer Ann Nocenti and Eisner Award-winning inker Al Williamson, noted for its creation of long-running Daredevil nemesis Typhoid Mary. His work on Daredevil was well-received, with Romita further refining his style.
During the 1990s, he worked on a host of Marvel titles including The Punisher War Zone, the Hulk, the Cable mini-series, The Mighty Thor, a return to Iron Man for the second Armor War written by John Byrne, and the Punisher Batman cross-over.
In the 2000s, Romita had a well-received return to The Amazing Spider-Man with writer J Michael Straczynski. He drew Marvel's Wolverine with author Mark Millar as part of the character's thirtieth-anniversary celebration. In 2004, Romita's creator-owned project The Grey Area was published by Image Comics. Romita's art has since appeared in Black Panther, The Sentry, and Ultimate Vision, a back-up story featured in the Ultimate line, written by author Mark Millar.  In 2006, Romita collaborated with writer Neil Gaiman on the reinterpretation of Jack Kirby's The Eternals in the form of a seven-issue miniseries. Romita worked with Greg Pak on the five issue main comic of Marvel's 2007 crossover event, World War Hulk. In 2008, Romita again returned to Amazing Spider-Man.

THE ART OF ADAPTATION


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