While harsh realities of rewatching Men In Black is ing just how awkward the first sequel, 2002’s Men in Black II, is due to the original movie’s ending.

In Men In Black’s twist ending, Tommy Lee Jones’ taciturn Agent K its to Will Smith’s rookie Agent J that he was secretly training him to be his successor. A heartbroken Agent J takes his mentor’s role, wiping Agent K’s memory and allowing Jones’ retired character to live a peaceful retired life with his wife. However, the chemistry between Agent K and Agent J was a big part of what made the original movie work, so when 2002’s sequel Men In Black 2 inevitably needed to get the duo back together, some silly plot mechanics were put in place.

Men In Black: The Series Avoided Men In Black 2’s Disappointing Agent K Retcon

Men In Black 2 Bringing Back Agent K Felt Forced

Men in Black 2 retconned the original movie’s ending by de-neuralyzing Agent K, bringing back Jones’ character midway through the sequel after Agent J convinced him to come out of retirement. While Men In Black: International is the worst outing in the series, Men In Black 2 comes a close second due to this cumbersome storytelling. The subplot wastes a good third of the movie’s runtime, and its unnecessarily byzantine plot is complicated further by undoing Agent K’s moving fate. In contrast, Men In Black: The Series managed to sidestep this issue entirely.

The dynamic of the original Men in Black was still there even though new actors took on the roles of Agent K and Agent J.

Men In Black: The Series was set right after the first movie, but the animated spinoff took place in an alternate continuity where Agent K never retired. As such, the dynamic of the original Men in Black was still there even though new actors took on the roles of Agent K and Agent J. Like many animated spinoffs from classic movie franchises, Men In Black: The Series arguably did a better job recapturing the style and tone of the 1997 movie than its sequels.

Men In Black: The Series’ Alternate Universe Setting Made It Better Than An Actual Sequel

Men In Black: The Series Took A Bigger Creative Risk

While Men In Black 2 clearly wanted to bring back Men In Black’s original dynamic too, all the movie series could do was put Agent K in a machine that restored his memories. This was an uninspired choice and, to make matters worse, the setup involved in getting Agent K back to the agency and into the machine wasted a huge chunk of the movie’s runtime. In contrast, Men In Black: The Series went with an answer that was wilder and more audacious, but fit the world of the series.

The Men in Black movies take place in a reality where the entire known universe is casually revealed to exist inside an alien marble. As such, it wasn’t a stretch for the spinoff to invent an alternate universe just to bring back a classic character pairing. In this regard, Men In Black: The Series felt truer to the tone of the movies than the first live-action sequel.