New Story and Character Details for MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL Along with Some New Photos
When the first trailer for Men in Black International was released, I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw! The F. Gary Gray-directed film seems to have the same style and vibe as the original films. But this time around the story will focus on a completely new set of lead characters.
Thanks to EW, we have some new story and character details to share with you along with some new photos. The report reveals that the story is kicked into gear after “an emissary from a powerful alien government is killed on H’s watch, he and M have to team up to identify the killer — and locate the mole whose existence has become a mortal threat to the agency’s core mission of protecting Earth from the scum of the universe.”
It’s then explained that Tessa Thompson’s character Molly, a.k.a. Agent M, becomes the driving force of the film, Thompson talked about her character saying:
“The genesis of the whole thing is a young girl whose life had been altered by an encounter with Men in Black and the idea is that unlike Will [Smith] in the original films, she’s a protagonist who hasn’t been recruited but has found them.”
After she finds them, Emma Thompson’s Agent O “sees Molly’s potential and sends her to London, where there’s suspicion that the agency may have been compromised from within. There she’s teamed with Chris, the charming and legendary Agent H, [who is] known as one of the greatest to ever wear the suit but who’s fallen on some hard times.”
It has also been confirmed that Kumail Nanjiani will play an alien sidekick character named Pawny in the movie. The character is said to be the “last survivor of an alien race that had been hiding out on Earth disguised as a chess set, and he has some major self-esteem issues.”
Another new alien character in the film is Riza, who is played by Rebecca Ferguson. She is a villain whom we already saw get in a fight with Thompson in the trailer.
The movie will act as both a sequel and a reboot, and when talking about the tone and style of the movie, executive producer E. Bennett Walsh said:
“The [series’] style is so deliberate in its design and storytelling. It’s not a standard action movie. It has a certain point of view, and some of the humor is that very matter-of-factness. We went into the project knowing the deep affection we and the fans have for Will and Tommy. We’re not replacing them, simply adding to their team.”
They wanted to make sure to get everything right for the fans of the previous films, and I think it looks like they have succeeded in that. Producer Walter F. Parkes went on to say:
“The first three pictures are very dependent on Will and Tommy’s particular chemistry and on the comic approach that [director] Barry [Sonnenfeld] brought. So we knew we needed performers with these vivid personalities and an inherent rapport, and luckily we could see the seeds of that in Thor.”
When asked about the biggest difference in this film from the previously ones, he added:
“I think the biggest difference [in this story] is that this time the enemy is within. MIB has been compromised from inside, which leads them on a globe-trotting adventure to discover the true nature of the threat.”
As you can imagine, the movie is going to be filled with some great action sequences, but don’t expect to see the same kind of action that we saw Chris Hemsworth do in the Marvel films. When talking about the stunt in the movie, the actor said:
“Thor’s stunts are wildly complicated, but it feels like an atomic bomb goes off with each of those [hammer] hits. Everything is sort of magnified to a level that is so nonhuman. Whereas this, we have to keep grounding it. There’s always a part of it where I’m like, ‘Can I do a flip or just sort of leap from this building to that one?’ and they’re like, ‘Nah, humans don’t do that sort of thing.’ So they have to rein me in occasionally.”
Stunt coordinator and second-unit director Wade Eastwood teased, “Occasionally Chris might reach his arm out and expect a hammer to fly in, but that’s about it. He’s been drifting cars on this and doing all sorts of things that are completely different than anything he’s done before.”
As far as the humor of the film goes, Thompson says she hopes to capture the same level of comedy that Will Smith delivered in the first films and also say make a statement in the process:
“I mean, the start of the first movie talks about immigration, and Will [Smith] has these really searing jokes about race…. I think you do have the chance inside of all this escapism to say something, and make a movie that has heart and that has satire and that holds up a mirror to our stuff. I think that’s possible, without preaching.”
Men in Black was written by Iron Man writers Matt Holloway and Art Marcum. The film will be released on June 14, 2019.
I’m actually looking forward to seeing this movie. Do you think it will be good?