Men in Black: International Trailer #2 Reveals a New Alien Threat

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Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson are saving the world (and looking good) in the new trailer for Men in Black: International. In the years since Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith finished their run on the Men in Black trilogy, Sony has toyed with various ideas for continuing the franchise. The studio came shockingly close to crossing the property over with their Jump Street movies at one point, but ultimately abandoned the concept in favor of a more traditional continuation with International.

International is set in the same continuity as the first Men in Black trilogy, but takes place at the MIB organization's UK branch (rather than the U.S.) Emma Thompson is reprising her Men in Black 3 role as Agent O here, with F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job, Fate of the Furious) directing, and Thor: Ragnarok duo Hemsworth and Thompson filling the hole left by Jones and Smith. With less than two months to go before the movie hits theaters, its marketing machine is revving up again.

The previous Men in Black: International trailer introduced Thompson as M, a new MIB recruit who gets partnered with the more experienced and laid-back Agent H (Hemsworth). Overall, the trailer focused less on the film's plot and more on the sci-fi gizmos and gadgets that M and H used to fight all manner of law-breaking aliens on their adventures. Sony has now unveiled a new promo that shines the spotlight on the actual narrative, as you can see below.

As mentioned, the new trailer delves a little deeper into the plot-line here, including M's backstory and how she comes to join the Men in Black in the first place. The preview further highlights Liam Neeson as High T, the head of MIB's UK branch, and Kumail Nanjiani as the voice of the tiny alien Pawny, along with a fresh threat in the form of shape-shifting extraterrestrials that are capable of impersonating MIB agents. And as you might expect, there are jokes that play on the cultural differences between the UK and U.S. (see: the steering wheel bit), as well as the fact that it's called the "Men in Black", yet features several women among its ranks.

On the whole, Sony appears to have taken an "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to the Men in Black franchise's tropes here. It's not necessarily a bad strategy, either; there's still plenty of fun to be had in this universe, from its zany aliens to its equally over the top sci-fi technology, and the addition of new cast members (especially Hemsworth and Thompson, who continue to have great screen chemistry) should help to liven up the formula in International. That being said, the film is clearly aiming to kick off a new series of movies following M and H, so we'll have to wait and see if that's something audiences are actually interested in.

Men in Black International (2019) release date: Jun 14, 2019