8 Movie Characters Who Were Killed Because Of Test Audiences

The death of Mark Strong's old reliable Merlin in Kingsman: The Golden Circle was one of the few sequences within the Matthew Vaughn follow-up that saved the sequel from feeling like an all-round waste of time.

Swapping himself in for Eggsy when the new Galahad steps on a land mine, Merlin proceeds to dispatch the evil Poppy Adams' guards by releasing his foot from said explosive, but not before belting out "Take Me Home, Country Roads" during his dramatic sacrifice.

Originally, however, Merlin was set to return in the closing stages of the flick as behind-the-scenes images from the set showed Mark Strong's character present at Eggsy's wedding. However, test audiences weren't a fan of the reveal that Merlin's heroic sacrifice had cost him his legs rather than his life, feeling this cheapened one of the film's most affecting moments.

With that in mind, Vaughn opted to leave the footage of Merlin crawling back into the diner post-sacrifice and his eventual appearance at his colleague's wedding, sporting prosthetic legs, on the cutting room floor.