Years before he starred in films such as Avengers: Age of Ultron and Kraven the Hunter, Aaron Taylor-Johnson got his first taste of comic book filmmaking with Kick-Ass. The movie served as a hyper-violent counter to the more family-friendly blockbusters that were ruling the box office during the time. An adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.‘s comic book series of the same name, Kick-Ass courted controversy for its violence, but emerged as a modest hit. It developed a cult following in the years following its release, and received a sequel some time later. You can now check the film out for yourself (if you haven’t already) on the Peacock streaming service, which is where it debuted on November 1.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn a year before he went mainstream with X-Men: First Class in 2011, Kick-Ass also featured Nicolas Cage in one of his most maniacal on-screen roles, along with Chloë Grace Moretz. She was 12 at the time of filming, and was required to swear extensively; her character, Hit-Girl, is shown as a mass-murdering avenger. Kick-Ass follows a mild-mannered high schooler who decides to don a superhero costume and fight crime. He joins hands with Cage’s character, Big Daddy, and his daughter, Hit-Girl. The villains in the film are played by Mark Strong and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

Kick-Ass was moderately successful at the box office, grossing nearly $100 million worldwide against a reported budget of around $30 million. It received mostly positive reviews, and is now sitting at a “certified fresh” 78% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “Not for the faint of heart, Kick-Ass takes the comic adaptation genre to new levels of visual style, bloody violence, and gleeful profanity.” A sequel, directed by Jeff Wadlow, opened to inferior reviews and a lower box office haul in 2013. Kick-Ass 2 was just as controversial, especially when Jim Carrey abandoned promotions citing a change of heart.

New ‘Kick-Ass’ Movies Are on the Way

Taylor-Johnson went on to play Quicksilver in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, debuting alongside Elizabeth Olsen in Avengers 2. Last year, he starred in the ill-fated Kraven the Hunter movie, which bombed critically and commercially, bringing Sony’s Spider-Man universe to an end. Vaughn, on the other hand, has remained exclusively in the comic book sphere. He went on to direct X-Men: First Class, followed by three Kingsman films, and the spin-off movie Argylle. A trilogy of new movies in the Kick-Ass universe is in the works.

You can watch the original on Peacock, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.