Certainly one of the biggest hits of 2015 was Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service. Inspired by Mark Millar’s comics, it was a homage to Vaughn’s admiration of the early Bond films with a dose of ludicrous, fun action he took straight from his very own Kick-Ass.

And it was good. Really good. Definitely one of my favourite films of the last few years and likely to be one of my favourite films of all time – but will its sequel live up to the reputation of its predecessor?

It certainly has competition, but from what we can glimpse from the first trailer, there’s a lot to look forward to. So here are 11 things we can learn from the trailer and 11 reasons to get hyped for the sequel coming later in 2017.

1. Music

Okay, so perhaps Henry Jackman’s score for the original film isn’t the main reason it was as epic as it was, but you certainly can’t undervalue the importance of a good score. Music can sometimes really be the soul of a movie. Could you imagine Star Wars without John Williams (no, I’m not including Rogue One in that). So the first part of this trailer replays the best track from the score (in my opinion), ‘Manners Maketh Man’ – the music during the fight scene in the pub, the moment you realise how badass this film is. Fortunately they’ve got Jackman back for the new score, so once again the music will compliment the slick action perfectly. And we here Sinatra’s ‘My Way’, so hopefully Vaughn will be continuing his tradition of picking excellent songs for the soundtrack.

2. The End of the Kingsman…

Well, probably not the end. After all, this is only the second entry in what will likely be a lucrative series. Yet, as with all sequels, they have to show that the stakes are higher. And what makes things seem more daunting than the headquarters being blown up? Yes, it may be a typical sequel cliché, we’ve seen many times – but who cares? The destruction of Britain’s independent secret service gives rise to the discovery of another one…

3. Location, Location, Location

Another typical sequel trope, exploring outside the previously established world. For the most part the previous film was confined to the UK, yet this one looks like we’ll be heading West to the USA for a some of it, looking at their independent secret service… We see some iconic American scenes set in Kentucky as well as a scene set in what look like Aztec or Mayan ruins. Could they be travelling south from the US perhaps? And is this where Game of Thrones’ Viper Pedro Pascal will come in? Let’s also not forget glimpses into the snowy, mountainous regions – will we get to see some classic Bond-esque ski scenes? I certainly hope so.

4. Vehicles

As with numerous spy films, vehicles have always been a key component (one that was missing from the previous movie) and it looks like The Golden Circle will give us more than just that yellow Subaru. There’s a sexy dark green Jaguar towards the beginning and, typical London iconography, an everyday black London taxi. Well, maybe not the most normal, conventional black London taxi – this one seems to have take a leaf from Q-Branch in The Spy Who Loves Me as it converts into a submarine. Handy! And good news for Bond fans that the homages and nods are being continued.

5. Weapons

What was your favourite thing about the first film? I don’t know about you, but I know lots of people would immediately say “umbrella!” Yes, Colin Firth made umbrellas cool again and his iconic weapon blended style with deadly force – and it looks like we’re up for more delicious Kingsman-style weapons. It looks like Merlin has yet another armoury (and a big ass knife) and we’ll even see some more extravagant weapons from across the pond – namely a whip (presumably the American equivalent of the umbrella) and a man with a robotic arm that can do some serious damage… another henchman with a dangerous limb replacement, yay!

6. Fashion

Sexy fashion was also undeniably a huge part of The Secret Service and suits are coming back sharper than ever. Gone are the track suits Eggsy wore for much of the last film; here we see him in suits, lots of suits – even a snazzy orange one. And then of course, the counterpart to the English stereotypical suits, the Americans come in,  complete with extravagant suits themselves and huge, crazy cowboy hats.

7. Sexiness

Unlike Bond films, Kingsman doesn’t really need to emphasise a great deal of sex appeal; there’s been no big announcement of a “Kingsman Girl” the way there would be for a Bond Girl. Yes, there’s Sophie Cookson returning as Roxy, as well as Halle Berry and Juliane Moore, but neither are there for sex appeal. Nor are Taron Egerton, Colin Firth or Channing Tatum. Yes, all very attractive actors and actresses, but this film is obviously confident it will be great in its own right and doesn’t need to attract an audience with the promise of sex – oh wait, apart from that one girl in her red underwear…

8. Eggsy’s a Real Kingsman and the Action Is Better than Ever

This time round it looks like the whole film will be centred around the mission and not focused on Eggsy’s training. From the looks of the action, those amateur days are far behind him and he’s a fully-fledged, ass-kicking Kingsman now. Expect the action to be bigger and better than ever from Eggsy. I wonder if he’ll ever be quite as fun to watch as his mentor…

9. New Cast, New Faces

Well, not exactly new faces – they’re quite established in Hollywood and a majority of the audience will recognise the likes of Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Jeff Bridges and Channing Tatum. Many of these new faces will comprise the Statesman, the American version of the Kingsman.

10. The Old Familiar Faces. All your Favourites from the First!

Yes, ALL your favourites (wink wink to that bit at the end). Apart from Michael Caine, that is. And Samuel L. Jackson. And Sofia Boutella. But we still have Taron Egerton, Sophie Cookson and Mark Strong as our favourite Kingsmen – oh and a one-eyed Colin Firth… let’s start taking bets – is it Harry Hart or Harry Hart’s evil twin brother? And if it is Harry Hart, let me guess – the bullet hit his glasses which were bulletproof (it wouldn’t surprise me).

11. We’re going to love it!

It’s no coincidence this is the first sequel Matthew Vaughn’s done. He didn’t do Kick Ass 2 and he didn’t do X-Men: Days of Future Past – he doesn’t go for films that don’t have something special about them. Clearly he wasn’t done with Kingsman; this is bound to be phenomenal and we’re all in for one hell of a treat!

So to sum up, much of what we can see is that the best elements that made the first one so wonderful will return in this one – only cranked up to the next level. All good news!

The only thing we can’t see in this trailer is a stand out scene to compete with the monumental church fight scene… but I’m sure there will be one, there has to be. To end this whole thing, let’s just have another look at that scene in question to remember how wonderful the action set pieces in Kingsman are.

But this is just my opinion – what are you excited for in Kingsman: The Golden Circle?