Bad Boys For Life Ending, Spoilers, Cameos Explained

Twist: Mike "Dies"

We knew Bad Boys For Life's plot revolves around a cartel boss trying to assassinate Mike over an old grudge; what we didn't know is that the hit technically succeeds! Early on in the film, Mike is gunned down by young cartel boss Armando Aretas, while having a foot race with Marcus. Mike is in ICU for about half a year thereafter, and as Marcus later reveals to him during an arugment, Mike actually flatlined and died several times during his recovery operations. It's a pretty shocking and somber twist, that adds some heavy dramatic weight to Bad Boys 3's story.

Cameo: The Rise of Reggie

One of Bad Boys II most famous scenes (that did not age well at all) sees Mike and Marcus torment a poor boy named Reggie (Dennis Greene) who, comes to take Marcus' daughter Megan (Bianca Bethune). Well, Bad Boys For Life reveals that Reggie's fortitude facing the Bad Boys pays off: the film reveals that Reggie is the father of Marcus' first grandchild, Little Marcus, and a major scene of the film is set during Reggie and Megan's wedding, after Mike recovers from his near-death experience.

Cameo: Wedding Bayhem

The sequence of Megan and Reggie's wedding as actually played as a major twist on expectations, as Bad Boys For Life introduces the scene in an ambiguous way meant to make viewers think they are seeing Mike Lowery's funeral. When it's revealed that Marcus and his wife Theresa's tears are for Megan's nuptials with Reggie, the guy MC'ing the wedding then introduces a surprise for Megan, which is "Uncle Mike" making his first public appearance walking and talking since his near-death. The guy MC'ing the wedding turns out to be Michael "Bayhem" Bay, who drops some Meta references

Twist: So Long, Captain

After Mike recovers and gets back on the case, he obsessively goes after the Aretas cartel. Mike's gung-ho behavior makes his old friends (Marcus, his old flame Rita) concerned. Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) tries to sit his star detective down at little league game to reflect on what really matters in life. Captain Howard gets through to Mike, but the wisdom is (literally) short-lived: Armando Aretas fatal assassinates Captain Howard while he's walking with Mike, as further torment for Lowrey to suffer. A franchise favorite gets a truly shocking, brutal, end.

Twist: Son of Lowrey

The biggest twist in Bad Boys For Life is the third act reveal that cartel boss Armando Aretas (Jacob Scipio) is actually Mike Lowrey's son! The hook of Bad Boys 3 is that main villain Isabel Aretas (Kate del Castillo) was actually Mike's first deep-cover assignment, given to him by Captain Howard. Mike and Isabel fell in love, but when it came time to bust her he made the hard call and chose the law. Little did he know, when Isabel went to prison she was pregnant. The baby boy was raised to be a cartel boss and elite hitman, while being fed the lie that Mike killed his real father. The final act sees Mike confront his son while taking down the cartel with Marcus and the A.M.M.O. squad. Isabel is killed and Armando seriously wounded when the truth comes out; even though Armando goes to prison for his dark crimes, he and Mike forge a much-needed relationship.

Ending: Bad Boys, For Life!

Despite the "Will he, won't he?" subplots of the last two films, in the end of Bad Boys For Life, Marcus decides that he won't retire, and will keep backing his boy Mike Lowrey for as long as they can run and gun in the streets. Based on the bonding experience of the Aretas case, Mike and Marcus have new partners in the A.M.M.O. squad, and Mike finally commits to a serious relationship with Rita, who is subsequently also promoted to be the new Captain, after Howard's death.

Button Scene: Bad (Lowrey) Boys

Bad Boys For Life indeed has a final "button" scene meant to set up Bad Boys 4. In that scene, Mike visits his son Armando in federal prison, and comes with chance to help his son reduce his time. Mike brings a folder that apparently contains a new deep-cover mission - one that Armando's criminal expertise would be good for. Armando is interested in working with his father, and now the Bad Boys title takes on a whole new meaning!

A Whole Bay of Easter Eggs

Directors Adil and Bilall also manage to pack in a ton of fun Easter Eggs that reference Michael Bay's iconic visuals and staples of the Bad Boys franchise - often tweaked in hilarious ways. Here's a few we spotted:

1. Circular Slow-mo shot - that iconic circular shot of sweaty Mike and Marcus from Bad Boys's iconic foot chase sequence comes up in Bad Boys For Life - only Mike and Marcus are too old and weathered in this new scene to put up any kind of real foot chase at all.
2. Fly Over Miami - The plane flying over the Miami sign is used again - but this time it's Mike and Marcus bickering on a commercial flight to Mexico City, after Mike has tried to sneak away on a suicide mission to confront his son.
3. Cool Car Fail - Mike is always driving the sleekest new sports car in the Bad Boys films, and Marcus is always messing that nice ride up. In Bad Boys For Life's opening act, Mike's high-speeding in the streets to get Marcus to the hospital for the birth of his grandson, ends with Marcus banging his nice car door into a fire hydrant.

Bad Boys For Life is now in theaters.