Bad Boys for Life Directors on Saying Goodbye to Captain Howard

It's difficult to bring a franchise back to the big screen after nearly two decades, but it's probably even harder to turn an maligned action film series into a critical darling with its third installment. Bad Boys for Life managed to accomplish both, receiving rave reviews and breaking box office records since its release earlier this month. One of the main reasons for the film's success is its willingness to dig deeper than the first two movies, introducing a strong emotional core and an overarching theme of dealing with consequences. Sadly, as a result of having a more realistic movie that deals with the consequences of your actions, one of the most popular characters in the Bad Boys franchise was killed in the middle of the movie.

The death of Captain Howard was a punch to the gut of Mike, Marcus, and the rest of the characters in Bad Boys for Life, as well as the audience members who gasped out loud in theaters around the world. That scene hurt everyone, including the two directors who brought it to life.

Like many of us, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are fans of the Bad Boys franchise, so they hated saying goodbye to Joe Pantoliano's beloved character. Even reading the scene in the script had an impact on them while they were preparing to shoot the film. ComicBook.com recently spoke with the directing duo and they opened up about that emotional scene, and what Captain Howard's death meant to them.

"It was so hard," said Fallah.

"That was really hard for us," El Arbi added. "And also when we read the script that was hard for us, it was a shock. But that's also one of the things that attracted us to the project, that they were really going to take risks and go all the way, and that everything had consequences. And when we shot the scene it was really hard and when you see the reaction of the audience, that's what's really ... You see really that they love him so much and they're all shocked, and you see the impact on these characters and you want to cry actually because you feel as sad as the Bad Boys."

Did you have a tough time saying goodbye to Captain Howard? Let us know in the comments.

Bad Boys for Life is now playing in theaters.