After years of back-and-forth during which fans oscillated between being wholly convinced another Bad Boys was imminent and being bummer-bound with the opposite, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah's Bad Boys for Life is now less than six weeks away from release.
On Wednesday's edition of Ellen DeGeneres' daytime chat show, stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence spoke on how it felt to step back into the franchise after 16 years.
"It was perfect," Lawrence said. "Just the respect we have for each other and the love we have for each other and we both wanna win and I don't think nobody wants to win bigger than this guy here."
Smith acknowledged there was worry that the actors' onscreen chemistry might have changed over the ensuing years, worries that were quelled on the first day of production.
"We hadn't really done anything in [years] so there was a little concern, you know, how will it be with the chemistry?" he said. "But literally the first moment on stage, like, that first moment connecting, it was right back."
Though Smith explained there are "too many spoilers" on the line for him to really dive into any plot intel, he did note the retirement tension at the center of the sequel's plot.
"Essentially, Martin's character wants to retire and something happens in the movie and my character really does not want to retire," he said. "And there's a mission that we must go on and he's refusing."
Smith and Lawrence also talked the original Bad Boys, swimming with sharks, the thrills of stand-up, YouTubed colonoscopies, and more.
Additionally, the stars joined the host for a round of the 5 Second Rule game:
Bad Boys for Life opens Jan. 17.
