Kevin Patrick Smith is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film Clerks (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted in as the character Silent Bob of stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob, characters who also appeared in Smith's later films Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Clerks II (2006), Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), and Clerks III (2022) which are set primarily in his home state of New Jersey. While not strictly sequential, the films have crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon known as the "View Askewniverse", named after Smith's production company View Askew Productions, which he co-founded with Scott Mosier.
Matthew Allard de Vere Drummond, known professionally as Matthew Vaughn, is an English filmmaker. He has produced films including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), and directed Layer Cake (2004), Stardust (2007), Kick-Ass (2010), X-Men: First Class (2011), and Argylle (2024). Vaughn also co-created the Kingsman comic book series and resulting franchise, directing, producing and co-writing the films Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), and The King's Man (2021).
Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series The Authority, published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written extensively for Marvel Comics, including runs on The Ultimates, which has been called "the comic book of the decade" by Time magazine and described as a major inspiration for the 2012 film The Avengers by its screenwriter Zak Penn, X-Men, Fantastic Four and Avengers for Marvel's Ultimate imprint, as well as Marvel Knights Spider-Man and Wolverine. In 2006, Millar wrote the Civil War mini-series that served as the centrepiece for the eponymous company-wide crossover storyline and later inspired the Marvel Studios film Captain America: Civil War. The "Old Man Logan" storyline, published as part of Millar's run on Wolverine, served as the inspiration for the 2017 film Logan.
Icon Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics for creator-owned titles, designed to keep select "A-list" creators producing for Marvel rather than seeing them take creator-owned work to other publishers.
Steve Niles is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as 30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery, Simon Dark, Mystery Society, Batman: Gotham County Line, Kick-Ass – The New Girl, and Kick-Ass vs Hit-Girl.
Millarworld Limited is an imprint of comic books published by Scottish comic book writer Mark Millar as a creator-owned line, featuring characters created by him in a shared fictional universe, the Millarworld. These characters include Wesley Gibson, Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl, Eggsy Unwin, Nemesis, Duke McQueen, Edison Crane, and others, while the events of The Unfunnies, Jupiter's Legacy, and Supercrooks exist as popular fiction within the world of the Millarworld. The imprint was launched in 2003 with the publication of the miniseries Wanted, followed by Kick-Ass – The Dave Lizewski Years, Kingsman, War Heroes, and The Magic Order, and later the crossover series Big Game. While the majority of series in the line are written by Millar himself, the series Kingsman, Kick-Ass – The New Girl and Hit-Girl feature new writers from their second volumes onward, after Millar wrote the series' first volumes.
Kick-Ass is a 2010 black comedy superhero film directed by Matthew Vaughn from a screenplay by Jane Goldman and Vaughn. It is based on the Marvel Comics' comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.
Hit-Girl is an antihero appearing in the Millarworld shared fictional universe, published by Marvel Comics under the company's imprint Icon Comics and later Image Comics, one of the titular characters of the Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass franchise. The character was created by artist John Romita Jr. and writer Mark Millar. She is a young and effective vigilante, trained by her father Damon McCready from an early age to be a costumed superhero and assassin, introduced in Kick-Ass – The Dave Lizewski Years as a supporting character and ultimate co-protagonist, along with Dave Lizewski. She featured in her own self-titled comic book series, Hit-Girl, published from 2018 to 2020 by Image Comics. She returned in the 2023 miniseries Big Game, becoming a Kingsman agent and killing Wesley Gibson.
Millar & McNiven's Nemesis is a creator-owned comic book limited series written by Mark Millar, drawn by Steve McNiven and published by the Icon Comics imprint of Marvel Comics.
Kick-Ass, Kick Ass or Kickass may refer to:
Superior is a creator-owned comic book series written by Mark Millar and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, following a young boy with multiple sclerosis who sells his soul to become a superhero. Set in the Millarworld, it is published by Marvel Comics under the company's Icon imprint, from October 2010 to March 2012. The series' protagonist, Simon Pooni, would return in Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years – Book Four in 2014, Superior: Symptoms in 2017, and Big Game in 2023.
Kick-Ass 2 is a 2013 black comedy superhero film written and directed by Jeff Wadlow, based on the Marvel Comics graphic novels Book Two and Book Three of Kick-Ass – The Dave Lizewski Years by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., and serving as a sequel to 2010's Kick-Ass. It stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Jim Carrey, with the former trio reprising their roles from the first film. The film follows Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass (Taylor-Johnson), who joins a vigilante team called "Justice Forever", while Mindy Macready / Hit Girl (Moretz) attempts to live a normal life, and Chris D'Amico (Mintz-Plasse) taking up the mantle of The Motherfucker and forming a supervillain team to take revenge on Kick-Ass.
Kingsman is a British multimedia franchise, consisting of action comedy comic books, films, and video games, that follow the missions of Agent Galahad of Kingsman, a fictional secret service organization. Based on the comic book series of the same name created by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, a 2012 Marvel Comics release set in the Millarworld, in-turn based on a concept by Millar and Matthew Vaughn, the franchise has garnered success both financially and critically.
Kick-Ass – The Dave Lizewski Years is a creator-owned comic book series written by Mark Millar and illustrated by John Romita Jr. The first instalment of the Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass franchise, it was initially published by Marvel Comics under the company's Icon imprint and republished under Image Comics. Set in the Millarworld, the series primarily tells the story of Dave Lizewski, a teenager who sets out to become a real life superhero. His actions are publicized on the Internet and inspire other people. He gets caught up with ruthless vigilantes Big Daddy and Mindy "Hit-Girl" McCready, who are on a mission to take down the Genovesecrime family. Two stand-alone sequel series, Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass – The New Girl, respectively following Mindy and new villain protagonist Patience Lee, began publication in February 2018, before jointly concluding with the crossover miniseries Kick-Ass vs Hit-Girl in March 2021. A further crossover, Big Game, was published from July to November 2023, following a now mid-20s Mindy as she teams up with Kingsman agent Eggsy Unwin against Wesley Gibson, while Dave is granted superpowers by the Magic Order.
Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass is a media franchise based on the adventures of superheroes of the same name. Set in the Millarworld, it began in 2008 with the Marvel comic Kick-Ass – The Dave Lizewski Years, followed by the anthology Millarworld Annual in 2016 and 2017, two stand-alone sequel series, Kick-Ass – The New Girl and Hit-Girl, from 2018 to 2020, and two crossover series, Kick-Ass vs Hit-Girl and Big Game, following in 2020 and 2023. The comic series were created by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. Hit-Girl is a young vigilante going around the world stopping crime in violent ways, while Kick-Ass has had two people take the mantle, a hero and a villain.
Big Game is an American superhero comic book limited series written by Mark Millar and drawn by Pepe Larraz. Published by Image Comics, the series is a crossover event between the various properties of the Millarworld multimedia franchise created by Millar, a direct sequel to Wanted by Millar and J. G. Jones, and a prequel to Empress by Millar and Stuart Immonen. The series chronicles Wesley Gibson and his protégé Matthew Anderson / Nemesis' campaign to assassinate the world's new superheroes, as Agent Galahad of Kingsman and Mindy McCready / Hit-Girl take on the forces of Gibson's Fraternity of Super-Criminals. The series, originally published between July and November 2023 and subsequently published as a graphic novel by Image Comics in December 2023, and as an omnibus with Wanted by Dark Horse Comics in 2024, who will also publish a sequel, Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery, later that year.
Kick-Ass – The New Girl, titled Kick-Ass vs Hit-Girl for its fourth and final volume, is an American superhero crime comic book limited series written by Mark Millar and Steve Niles, and illustrated by John Romita Jr. and Marcelo Frusin. Published by Image Comics, the series is a stand-alone sequel/spin-off to the Icon Comics series Kick-Ass – The Dave Lizewski Years by Millar and Romita Jr., and the second series in the franchise, set in the Millarworld. The first three volumes follow villain protagonist and former soldier Patience Lee as she takes up the Kick-Ass mantle to become "boss of all bosses" of Albuquerque, New Mexico, while the fourth volume follows Mindy McCready / Hit-Girl as she travels to Albuquerque to kill Patience. The series, published from February 14, 2018 to March 17, 2021, was followed by Big Game, written by Millar and illustrated by Pepe Larraz.
