Will Smith returns to the big screen with Bad Boys 4 trailer

You can’t keep a bad boy down for long. We haven’t seen Will Smith on the big screen since The Slap (Antoine Fuqua’s Emancipation excepted as a straight-to-streaming drama). But he’s finally making his triumphant (hopefully!) return alongside Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, the fourth installment in the beloved buddy cop comedy franchise. This is comfortable territory for Smith to rebound: a light action comedy where he gets to look cool and competent across from a supportive co-star who has his back, in a film series with a proven track record for success. If anything can get him out of Hollywood jail, it’s Bad Boys. So will audiences buy it?

Well, you can decide for yourself upon viewing the trailer, which is indeed a return to form. There’s a fun bit where Marcus (Lawrence) and Mike (Smith) squabble during a convenience store stick-up, and another where they’re caught stealing clothes from some gun-toting confederate flag enthusiasts and can’t name a single Reba McEntire song. (C’mon, those guys don’t know about “a single mom who works two jobs”?) But the bad boys also have to investigate a frame job against Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano), who was assassinated in the previous film. Unfortunately, that investigation leads to Marcus and Mike being set up as well—and they are “some terrible fuckin’ fugitives.”

The trailer release for Bad Boys: Ride Or Die comes almost exactly two years after the fateful Oscars ceremony during which Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage and found himself on the outs of the entertainment industry. In fact, it was reported at the time that Bad Boys 4 was one of multiple projects being put on “pause” in the wake of that event, but the film nevertheless moved forward. And it’s not just Smith’s comeback story, either. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who directed the previous installment Bad Boys For Life (and yes, the stars are well aware they should’ve saved that title for the fourth film), are also making their first blockbuster since their film Batgirl was shelved at Warner Bros. Discovery. Essentially, the whole Bad Boys team has something to prove, so hopefully the film can live up to it.