Dwayne Johnson wasn’t interested to follow in Pedro Pascal’s footsteps. Over the past few years, Pedro Pascal has emerged as a highly sought-after actor, coveted for his versatility in both prominent television roles and supporting characters in movies. In the year 2023, audiences have witnessed the actor show his magic, such as in the third season of The Mandalorian and the television adaptation of the beloved video game The Last of Us. One of his works that was a bit overshadowed by the rest was the Kingsman series. 

And to everyone’s surprise, Pascal almost passed his ‘baddie’ crown to The Rock for the third installment of the series even after receiving an overall positive response from the fans. Matthew Vaughn, the director also previously expressed his preference for casting the renowned actor Dwayne Johnson as the main antagonist in the third Kingsman sequel.

Dwayne Johnson replaced Pedro Pascal as the titular villain in the franchise

In an interview featured in the September 2017 issue of Total Film magazine, Matthew Vaughn expressed his preference for casting the renowned actor Dwayne Johnson as the main antagonist in the third Kingsman sequel. Vaughn also hinted at the possibility of expanding the Kingsman universe by creating a spin-off centered around the characters of the Statesman, a beloved addition introduced in the second film. The immense success achieved by the Kingsman trilogy has fueled Vaughn’s enthusiasm to further explore this fictional world and captivate audiences with thrilling new stories and characters.

In addition to that, Targon Egerton also chimed in saying,
“I know who the character is and it’s nothing like this actor, but I love Dwayne Johnson. I think he’s the right fit for it, but the villain role Matthew has described to me is not Dwayne Johnson.”
Dwayne Johnson
But unfortunately, the fans missed on to witness some wickedness by the actor since things did not work out in the end due to his busy schedule.

Daniel Brühl ended up playing the villain

Daniel Brühl was ultimately finalized for the pivotal role in the film. He told Variety,

“I’ve had a lot of fun with Matthew and the cast. It was a bit of a strategic choice because it’s a pivotal part. It’s not big, but I saw the potential for it to reappear later on, hopefully. That’s the first thing you check: Will they kill me? When will they kill me? How am I going to die?!,”

He then added,

“The level of nerdy perfection that Matthew has, I found it incredibly interesting: every single shot is orchestrated, every single detail has to be 100% perfect. I was about to start my own film, so I said to him: ‘I hope you don’t mind having a German pain in the ass behind your back.’ Luckily, he was very supportive. He said: ‘Always make a decision, even if it’s the wrong one.’ Otherwise, you lose time.”
The actor decide to take on the project after his successful directorial debut and certainly did not regret portraying one of the most criminal minds there ever is. The movie earned a whopping 126 million during its run and was received fairly positively by the audience.

It is now available on HBO Max to stream.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter