Cage plays Damon aka Big Daddy, the "redneck superhero" father of Mindy, the wannabe superhero who goes by Hit Girl. "It's like the Punisher, but with a daughter, and more extreme," explains Millar in an interview with Newsarama. And posting on his own message board, Millar talked about watching Cage, as Big Daddy, in action:

Coincidentally, the first scene shot on the movie was the first scene I wrote on the comic (now the opening to issue six) and it's Hit-Girl in her secret identity, wearing a Hello Kitty T-shirt and a kevlar vest as her Dad pumps round after round into her chest so she knows how a bullet feels. I loved the scene in the comic, I loved the scene in the screenplay, but Nic just took it to a whole new level with his delivery, the genuinely mental glee and beautiful comic timing as we see this little kid in pink clothes and a pink hat blasted back into mud in an abandoned factory. The scene in the swing park the following day is even better, but I don't want to spoil anything. All I'll say is that nobody is going to be prepared for this movie when it opens late Summer 09.

Millar told Newsarama it's true that director Matthew Vaughn had trouble raising money because of some of the film's underage violence, like a little nine-year-old girl who goes around decapitating people. But the stories have been exaggerated a bit, and anyway it's lucky that Vaughn is wealthy and has lots of wealthy friends.

Meanwhile, the film has put out a call for high-school-aged extras. If you're goth/emo kid with lots of facial piercings, or a clean-cut all-American jock type, in the Toronto area, this is your chance to be immortalized.

More pics at the first link. [TheBadAndTheUgly and Millarworld and Newsarama]

Talking to the Glasgow Herald, Millar eagerly explained just how kick ass Kick-Ass the movie will be:

We probably did the most violent film this year with Wanted. I wanted to do something even more outrageous with Kick-Ass... I grew up with Clint Eastwood movies. I think a lot of films these days are too tame. Everything is designed for lunchboxes and toys. I thought it would be good to do something that appeared to the slightly older market, even though Kick-Ass is a super-hero movie.

And if you're one of the those fans who's upset that casting news for the movie has given away the plot of the story months before the comic has introduced the characters, don't be; everything is, apparently, going entirely to Millar's plan:

I am really excited about the deal and the fact that the rights for the film were signed before the book is published in January... Spiderman and Superman took about 40 years to make into films. Shooting for Kick-Ass will begin a week on Saturday and will last for nine weeks. The book will be published in January and the film will be out next summer. It has worked out really well.

I like the way that that quote suggests that (a) the faster a movie is made the better, and (b) Mark on some level believes that the Spider-Man movie was actually in the works for 40 years. Nonetheless, if you're looking for some questionable ultra-violence from underage children to accompany your potentially racist plot, it looks like the movie Kick-Ass really is going to come through for you next year.

How Scottish comic author has drawn best of Hollywood [The Herald]