‘Kingsman’ sequel adds to character’s Jedi-like journey

NEW YORK - His suits are snazzier and his gadgets are flashier, but Gary Unwin is still the same old “Eggsy.”

Everything and nothing has changed for the playfully nicknamed street-kid-turned-superspy when he returns in “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” which opened in theaters Friday, two years after Matthew Vaughn’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service” scored a box-office slam dunk with $128.3 million.

When the sequel picks up, Eggsy (Taron Egerton) is forced to team with Statesman, the American counterpart to British intelligence agency Kingsman, after his fellow spies are killed by Poppy (Julianne Moore), a diabolical drug lord. Meanwhile, the cheeky secret agent is still reeling from the presumed death of his mentor, Harry Hart (Colin Firth), whom he later learns survived a shot to the face.

Harry is the “Obi-Wan Kenobi figure to someone who didn’t have anyone to guide him out of this dark place,” Egerton said. After the first Kingsman, “that relationship (with Harry) felt like it was cut short. It felt like there were more daddy issues to be resolved.”

Eggsy’s upward trajectory mirrors that of “Star Wars’ ” Luke Skywalker.

“They’re very similar in a lot of ways,” Vaughn said. “The franchise is really the journey of Eggsy. We’d love to make one more where his journey gets to the final destination, and this is definitely the middle chapter.”

“Golden Circle” throws a slew of new players into the ring, with Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry and Channing Tatum joining the cast as members of the whiskey-swilling, lasso-swinging Statesman.