Where is the Hero of ‘Kingsman’?

We can already tell that ‘The Golden Circle’ needs more Roxy.

With Kingsman: The Golden Circle hitting theaters this weekend, this is a prime moment to celebrate the true hero of Kingsman. No, it is not Harry Hart (Colin Firth), who you might remember died for Queen and Country in an epic church shootout. No, it is not Merlin (Mark Strong), although he does play a pivotal role in the finale and everyone would certainly be lost without him. It isn’t even Eggsy (Taron Egerton), the Kingsman agent who presumingly saves the day and gets the girl.

The true hero of Kingsman: The Secret Service is none other than agent Roxanne “Roxy” Morton.

Roxy (Sophie Cookson) was a breath of fresh air for the first Kingsman movie. Outside of villain Gazelle, played by The Mummy‘s Sofia Boutella, the movie was decidedly an all-boys club. Roxy was the solution to that problem as she selected by one of the Kingsman in order to compete for the open position of Lancelot. Lancelot was one of the Kingsman killed off in the opening sequence. Nevertheless, Roxy was one of two women who selected to compete for the coveted role. And she succeeded where others did not. She was the one to actually complete the final test asking agents to shoot their furry ally. Eggsy notably refused to shoot his dog, which showed that he wasn’t able to kill under extreme circumstances. She gets the job done.

In the finale, she is given a pivotal mission to destroy a satellite, but that really doesn’t get the attention it deserves. She just plays second fiddle all the way until the butt end. If there is a saving grace to Roxy’s depiction in Kingsman: The Secret Service, it is that she is not played for romantic fodder. Given that both Roxy and Eggsy are in the same class together and show a rapport together, movies typically try to pair characters like this together in a romantic entanglement. Roxy never ends up being this character. She is successful on her own and is able to do the work to the best of her ability.

While Roxy was mostly relegated to the background despite her superior training and resolve, there was hope that her character would be expanded in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. And then the cast announcements starting happening. They kept coming and coming, adding Channing Tatum, Halle Berry, and Julianne Moore to the cast among others. There was no way Sophie Cookson was going to get that much screen time when all these new top-tier cast members were joining the fray. Nevermind the fact that Colin Firth’s Harry Hart was seemingly returning from the dead! Even though Kingsman isn’t Kingsman without Colin Firth’s involvement, things were looking grim for Roxy.

Then the trailer launched for Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Where was Roxy? She was nowhere to be found. The plot for The Golden Circle has the remaining Kingsman members teaming up with an American branch of secret agents known as The Statesmen after the Kingsman HQ gets wiped out. Presumably, Roxy is in that rubble of the Kingsman HQ. Just the building being destroyed wouldn’t be enough to get everyone ready for action. There needed to be a casualty that held some weight to the plot. Roxy is probably being used as a plot device to move the action forward and little else.

This is disappointing on a number of levels. Director Matthew Vaughn had an opportunity to really create a riveting character with Roxy. Obviously, there haven’t been that many interesting female spies in the history of film. Second is the fact that Roxy’s early departure from Kingsman: The Golden Circle isn’t because of Sophie Cookson’s work ethic. Cookson is still working in film and has two new movies in post-production. The Golden Circle just got too big with including a bevy of new cast members that there was just no more room for her character.

If, in fact, Roxy is to meet her doom at the beginning of Kingsman: The Golden Circle it will be a great disappointment. Here was the better agent, who actually won the position of Lancelot, used as simple plot fodder. Given how Harry Hart came back for the second film, maybe she’ll magically show up in the third Kingsman movie. Matthew Vaughn has established that anything is possible within the world of the Kingsman.

Related Topics: Kingsman

News Writer/Columnist for Film School Rejects. It’s the Pictures Co-host. Bylines Playboy, ZAM, Paste Magazine and more.