Kick-Ass movie updates: director Matthew Vaughn, Nicolas Cage & footage at Comic-Con, new images and animated sequences

New facts and images are popping up for John Romita Jr. and Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass movie adaptation, which is being directed by Matthew Vaughn.

To begin with, Romita opened up during an interview with Comic Book Resources about how the source material and adaptation will likely differ. Apparently, he’s resolved to the fact that what he draws may not match up perfectly with director Vaughn’s ending for the film.

“Things have to be independent because, as [Millar] made the great point, we don’t want to look like we’re ‘demagoging’ the film and trying to capitalize on it. We didn’t want to do that,” said Romita.

According to reports, Romita’s drawing style will be animated for flashback sequences in the film as well, a process that involved the artist visiting the set of the film last winter and reading the screenplay, which he seems enthusiastic about.

Sci-Fi Wire and MTV have posted new images (including the one above) from the film, offering a sweet preview to the exciting news that actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse (remember McLovin’ in Superbad?) will join director Matthew Vaughn, Kick-Ass co-creator John Romita Jr. and Nicolas Cage, at a Thursday, July 23rd Kick-Ass panel, which will also feature a first look at footage from the upcoming film.

Although Kick-Ass doesn’t currently have a release date, Mintz-Plasse and Millar have both commented on the possibility of a sequel, which would possibly shoot within two years, if the first film does well.

In the image above, Minz-Plasse plays Chris D’Amico, a young vigilante inspired by the exploits of Dave Lizewski (in the image below), the unlikely hero the comic and film is named after. Aaron Johnson plays Lizewski’s character.