UNTITLED MEN IN BLACK SPIN-OFF
The Revengers reunite…
Director F. Gary Gray
Starring Tessa Thompson, Chris Hemsworth, Rebecca Ferguson, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson
Chris Hemsworth issued a rallying cry to MCU-watchers recently when he posted “#revengers4life” to his Instagram, captioning a picture of him reuniting with his Thor: Ragnarok co-star Tessa Thompson on the set of the new, as-yet-untitled Men In Black movie. If you number among those MCU fans, the latest entry in Sony’s alien-policing franchise will be one release you won’t want neuralised from your brain banks.
Equal parts sequel, spin-off and reboot, the fourth go-round on the 21-year-old series ditches former MIB team Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. Instead, Hemsworth is suiting up as Agent H and Thompson as Agent M (H&M promo tie-ins await, surely?) in a film designed to stretch its predecessors’ universe in fresh directions. Expect new characters, new aliens and new locations, all moulded around some familiar suits ’n’ shades.
“These are obviously some big, big shoes to fill,” said Hemsworth of following Smith ’n’ Jones. “So we’re working our butts off on it to make something pretty epic and fun.” As Ragnarok (and, in his case, 2016’s mixedbag Ghostbusters) proved, Hemsworth and Thompson pack the comic chops to tackle the alien-busters series inspired by Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers’ comics. Meanwhile, with the once-mooted Jump Street/MIB mash-up movie sidelined, the script by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (Iron Man) impressed co-producer Walter F. Parkes precisely because it both filled its predecessors’ intergalactic shoes and dared to walk that extra mile.
“It’s so rare to get to the end of the script and know you’re holding a movie in your hands,” Parkes told Deadline, “but Art and Matt have written a spin-off that somehow is true to the core of the MIB world and yet expands the franchise to a fresh new place.”
Happily, the director mapping the route is F. Gary Gray, who brought swagger to NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton and crowdpleasing clout to Fast & Furious 8. Gray’s series entry takes the MIB to London, where returning MIB3 star Emma Thompson helps oversee Earth’s protection as Agent O. Liam Neeson also stars as London’s MIB head, combining his comic/action skill sets with his Gotham-set experience of folks in black. Co-stars include Rafe Spall and Kumail Nanjiani. Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible’s Rebecca Ferguson takes a break from watching Tom Cruise dangle from things in a – reportedly – villainous role.
Factor in the Thompson/Hemsworth frontline and you have the promise of a multi-age-range comic/action/sci-fi good time that could work for Sony in the way Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle did. Maybe Hemsworth was right: those Revengers might be lifers. Kh untitLeD Men in bLacK Spin-oFF openS on 14 June.
‘There are big shoes to fill, so we’re working hard to make something epic and fun’ Chris Hemsworth