Tessa Thompson is Fresh Recruit Agent M in "Men in Black: International"

Best-known as fan-favorite Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tessa Thompson now stars as Agent M in Columbia Pictures’ new action adventure Men in Black: International.

(Watch new MIB: International TV spots at https://youtu.be/l2_Y0ADrq5s and https://youtu.be/HXT4NNKIIy8.)

Chris Hemsworth who stars as Agent H relished the opportunity to reunite with Thompson, with whom he had recently starred in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame. “Tessa picked up right where we left off,” he says. “Her character, M, brings intelligence and intrigue to the relationship between the two agents.”

Agent M is in many ways the yin to Agent H’s yang. “They’re as different as night and day; it’s a head versus heart thing,” Thompson explains. “She’s cerebral and he operates from the gut. So, they have some fundamentally different approaches and priorities.”

We meet M before she was M – as Molly, a six-year-old whose run-in with a wayward alien leaves an indelible impact that would lead her to becoming an MIB agent. “Molly is obsessed with the memory of that close encounter, which opens up a new world to her,” Thompson says. “She is literally the only person outside of the MIB who knows that aliens exist among us, and lives her life in pursuit of this mysterious organization she experienced as a child. Molly knows it’s the only place where she’ll have a strong sense of belonging.”

It seems the universe has led her to the place she was always supposed to be, at the moment she was supposed to be there. “I love that it’s a reversal of how Will Smith’s character, J, was selected to be an agent in the first film,” Thompson continues. “Instead, Molly finds them. She does the unthinkable: tracking down the organization that is supposed to untraceable. It’s her destiny to be one of the black-suited agents.”

As she tells Agent O (Emma Thompson), who runs the MIB and still has doubts about the woman who’s infiltrated her mega-secretive organization: “It took me 20 years to find you – the best-kept secret in the universe. Which makes me perfect for this job.”

In Philippine cinemas June 12, Men in Black: International is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.  Use the hashtag #MIBInternational

About Men in Black: International

The Men in Black have expanded to cover the globe, but so have the scum of the universe. And to keep us safe, decorated Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) and determined rookie M (Tessa Thompson) are partnered – an unlikely pairing that just might work. As they face a new alien threat that can take the form of anyone, including MIB agents, they must join forces on a globetrotting adventure to save the agency and ultimately the world.

Building upon the idea that there are aliens from other worlds living among us, MIB: International introduces new agents, weapons, aliens and locations, while bringing together some of today’s most in-demand and talented actors, including Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson as the titular heroes, Agents H and M, with Emma Thompson reprising her role as the head of MIB, and Liam Neeson, Rebecca Ferguson, Kumail Nanjiani also taking on key roles.

Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald return as the franchise’s “guardians,” having produced all four films, starting with 1997’s Men in Black, and have brought on board director F. Gary Gray, whose work encompasses epic action and thrills (The Fate of the Furious), raucous comedy (Friday) and galvanizing drama (Straight Outta Compton) to bring scale, laughs and a unique vision to the sequel.