Bad Boys 3 Is Bringing Back Another Familiar Character

Captain Howard Bad Boys movie

After a very long road of false starts, Bad Boys 3 is finally happening (for now). Will Smith and Martin Lawrence personally announced the project on social media, with the goal of filming early next year. It's been quite a few years since the last Bad Boys film, but it seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Bad Boys 3 -- aka Bad Boys for Life -- has cast Joe Pantoliano to reprise his role as Captain Howard in the movie.

The previous two Bad Boys films followed Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as Miami narcotics detectives who love high-octane action and hate following the rules. That often put them at odds with their boss, Captain Howard, who had the commissioner breathing down his neck anytime the two trigger-happy cops sank a boat or caused an explosion. Captain Howard also didn't like people wearing shoes in his office.

Not much is known about the plot of Bad Boys 3, but according to Deadline, Joe Pantoliano will join Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the new movie. This will make Pantoliano the only actor other than Smith and Lawrence to appear in all three Bad Boys films. Nothing is known about what Captain Howard has been up to, other than apparently not getting a promotion, but maybe age has dulled his anger at his detectives' destructive tendencies.

It has been a long time coming, but it appears like Bad Boys 3 is finally happening. While Michael Bay directed the previous films, the third installment will be tackled by newcomers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Bay was too busy filming his Netflix movie 6 Underground, starring Ryan Reynolds. Legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer is also on board.

The script was written by Peter Craig, who worked on Bad Boys 2, in addition to Joe Carnahan (The Grey) and Chris Bremmer.

Production for the movie is expected to begin in January, so we should be hearing more casting announcements in the near future. In the meantime, check out this clip of Joe Pantoliano in Bad Boys 2 for a trip down memory lane:

Bad Boys for Life is expected to arrive in theaters on January 17, 2020. There are sure to be more details about the project soon, so be sure to stick with CinemaBlend, and we'll keep you updated with new information as soon as it is available. For more movies hitting theaters soon, check out our 2019 movie release guide.

Matt Wood

Matt has lived in New Jersey his entire life, but commutes every day to New York City. He graduated from Rowan University and loves Marvel, Nintendo, and going on long hikes and then greatly wishing he was back indoors. Matt has been covering the entertainment industry for over two years and will fight to his dying breath that Hulk and Black Widow make a good couple.