According to the First Law Of Hollywood, every successful movie franchise must be sequel-ed, prequel-ed, rebooted, revived and spun-off, because these holiday homes in Costa del Sol aren't gong to pay for themselves. But you know what? I'm here for it. Sometimes these installments are really good, putting a fresh spin on the original film.
The first Men In Black came out in 1997, a dark time when your landline phone and dial-up internet shared the same connection. You'll never understand what that was like, Generation Z! The sci-fi/comedy starred Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as secret government agents who supervise extraterrestrial lifeforms and hide their existence from humans. If anyone sees an alien, their memory gets erased.
Men In Black was followed by Men In Black II (2002) and Men In Black III (2012), as well as an animated series. Now a spin-off is coming out called Men In Black International, starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. (It's a Thor: Ragnarok reunion!) While the original trilogy took place in New York City and Cape Canaveral, Florida, this film takes the agents on a journey through London, Morocco and Italy to find a mole.
In the trailer, Agent M (Thompson) and Agent H (Hemsworth) get suited up, meet weird aliens and shoot some big-ass guns. And really, do you need to know anything more? Attentive viewers will notice a gag where Chris Hemsworth, aka Thor, throws a hammer, plus paintings depicting the adventures of Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones). See, this is a spin-off, not a reboot, so it takes place in the same universe. (Sony learned their lesson from the disastrous Ghostbusters reboot.)
The film also stars Kumail Nanjiani as an alien, Liam Neeson as the head of the UK branch of MiB, and Emma Thompson as the head of the US branch MiB. Thompson is reprising her role from Men In Black 3 - see? Same universe! - and Tessa Thompson appears to casually flirt with her in the trailer. This ain't your grandfather's men in black!
Last November, Tessa Thompson told Cinema Blend that there was a "good reason" for the Men In Black spinoff: "I had so much fun making the movie, and I think if you’re going to reboot something, if you’re going to borrow from a franchise, then you’d better have a good reason to do it, and I think we did. It’s exciting to have a lead agent be a woman, a woman of color, and I feel real proud that it got to be me.”
The feedback on Twitter is pretty positive so far - or at least, more positive than the reaction to Will Smith's bewildering beard in the live-action Aladdin movie.
There's no word on if Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth will make a rap song inspired by the movie like Will Smith, but I really, really hope so.
Men in Black hits theaters sometime next year. And if it isn't good, don't worry, Sony Pictures will erase your memory.
