It's been a long wait since, er, last month, but it's finally here - and this month's fold-out Kick-Ass cover looks freakin' brilliant, if we do say so ourselves. Showcasing Aaron Johnson's Kick-Ass, Chloe Moretz' scene-stealing Hit Girl and Nicolas Cage's Big Daddy, it's your introduction to what might be the year's coolest film.

Inside, we have interviews with all the cast and crew, including Nicolas Cage on the influence of Adam West's Batman ("That's Big Daddy's Jungian muse, to help him accomplish the things he accomplishes") and Matthew Vaughn on why he originally had Zac Efron in mind for the Red Mist role now occupied by Christopher Mintz-Plasse. "We initially met Chris Mintz-Plasse for Dave, because we were thinking about making Dave (Kick-Ass) a really, really geeky kid. And we thought it would be interesting if Red Mist was the much cooler guy."

Click the thumbails below to see the cover and its fold-out images in all their hi-res glory.

The magazine is on sale on Thursday 28, and should be easy to spot thanks to its rather fetching bright-green cover font, so pick up your copy then.  For more details on what's inside the issue, head over to our Magazine preview page.

And, as a subscriber you'll be receiving our ultra-cool coverline-free version below.

Click the image above for Empire subscription details