New 'Men in Black: International' trailer goes heavy on Liam Neeson despite controversy

Sony Pictures has released a new trailer for upcoming reboot Men in Black: International and fans might be surprised to see Liam Neeson feature so prominently despite recent calls for him to be cut from the franchise.

The two-and-a-half minute clip sees Tessa Thompson’s character infiltrate the MIB and practically beg to be given a job there, arguing that if she was able to discover the alien-fighting agency’s super secret headquarters then she’s bound to be the perfect recruit.

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Before long, she’s donning the iconic black-and-white uniform, given the codename ‘Agent M’ and being shipped off to the force’s UK division in London – where Neeson’s character High T appears to be the boss.

He assigns M a partner in Chris Hemsworth’s Agent H before explaining that the MIB has “never faced a threat like the Hive, a deadly species that can take the form of anyone, even agents.”

Some fans of the franchise are likely to be disappointed by how many times he pop ups in the video – nor will they be thrilled to see him front-and-centre on the latest poster.

Back in February, several individuals took to Twitter to urge Sony Pictures to “digitally replace,” or even erase, Neeson or else they’d boycott the whole movie because of the controversial confession he made while promoting Cold Pursuit.

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The Irish actor revealed to The Independent that when one of his friends was sexually assaulted 40 years ago, he used to patrol the streets with a weapon in the hopes that “some ‘black b*****d’ would pick a fight with him so that he could “kill” someone. Describing it as a “primal urge” at the time, he admitted that seeking revenge was not the answer but his comments understandably shocked audiences.

The backlash was so fervent in fact that the red carpet before Cold Pursuit‘s premiere was cancelled.

Also starring Rafe Spall, Rebecca Ferguson, Kumail Nunjiani and Emma Thompson, Men in Black: International reaches UK cinemas on 14 June. It will be released in the US on the same day.