The villain of ‘Kingsman 2’ could bear more than a passing resemblance to a famous DC film bad guy. Julianne Moore, who plays Poppy Adams in the sequel, says her performance was based on the villains of the 1978 ‘Superman’.
What Happened
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, Moore revealed that Gene Hackman’s take on Lex Luthor, as well as Valerie Perrine’s turn as Eve Teschmacher, inspired her portrayal of the ‘Kingsman’ sequel’s villain. “[Hackman] and Valerie Perrine were in this basement just acting like regular people, but they were supervillains,” Moore told Fallon. “And they were so funny. So so funny, so I was kind of inspired by that.”
What It Means
The scene Moore’s referring to is probably the one that takes place after Luthor has killed a detective trying to find him, and he’s revealed his diabolical plan to his girlfriend and now-accomplice, Eve. What’s notable about this scene is the fact that, like Moore said, there’s a humor to the fact that these characters are kind of like normal people, even as their actions could lead to the deaths of thousands of people for personal gain. Given the fact that the villain of the first ‘Kingsman’ wasn’t quite a mustache-twirling villain, yet managed to have a few comedic moments in the face of the worldwide culling he had planned, using Hackman and Perrine’s performances as a source of inspiration seems like a smart move.
What’s Next
Based on this, Moore’s character may not seem like that big of a departure from Samuel L. Jackson’s character from the first film. But as a bonafide criminal mastermind, Poppy’s motivations probably aren’t the ultimately altruistic ones of Richmond Valentine, who wanted to commit global mass murder to help control, or stop, climate change. At the same time, there might be a decent amount of overlap between the two characters, as the organization she’s associated with, The Golden Circle, wants to create a New World Order. With Kingsman 2 coming out next week, we’ll see if Poppy takes more after Lex or Richmond soon enough.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle will be released on September 22.
