It took 17 years for Bad Boys for Life to roll into theaters in 2020, but only four years for the upcoming fourth film in the series, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, to arrive. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have been headlining this franchise since 1995, and the latest sequel may put the title characters through their greatest test to date. Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) are used to being the ones who chase down criminals, but in the first trailer for Bad Boys: Ride or Die, they’re the ones on the run from their fellow cops.
The trailer also establishes how and why Mike and Marcus end up on the wrong side of the law. Their longtime captain, Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano), is missing and presumed dead. Captain Howard has also apparently been posthumously framed as a dirty cop, and that’s a charge that both Mike and Marcus know for a fact to be false.
Unfortunately for the guys, their efforts to clear Howard’s name puts targets on their backs as well. Whoever is behind the conspiracy to frame Howard has done the same thing to Mike and Miles, and the only option they have now is to run and regroup until they can figure out who their enemy is.
The trailer reveals that a few familiar faces from the previous film are returning, including their colleagues in the police department, Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens), Dorn (Alexander Ludwig), and Lieutenant Rita Secada (Paola Núñez). Jacob Scipio also returns as Mike’s son, Armando Aretas, who may get a chance to earn his release from prison by working alongside his father and Marcus.
Tasha Smith is stepping into the role Marcus’ wife, Theresa Burnett, who was played by Theresa Randle in the previous movies. The rest of the cast includes Eric Dane, John Salley, DJ Khaled, Ioan Gruffudd, Rhea Seehorn, Joyner Lucas, Quinn Hemphill, and Melanie Liburd.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die was directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah from a script by Chris Bremner. The film will hit theaters on Friday, June 7.
