Perifel expressed interest on developing a sequel to The Bad Guys in March 2022, before the release of the first film. Two years later, DreamWorks Animation announced a sequel, with Perifel and the voice cast returning. Lyonne joined the cast in July 2024, with the involvement of Brooks and Bakalova being announced in November. Daniel Pemberton composed the score, returning from the previous film.
The Bad Guys 2 was released in the United States on August 1, 2025, by Universal Pictures. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $207.8 million.
Plot
Following the defeat of Professor Marmalade[a] and their recent release from prison, the Bad Guys have since reformed but struggle to fit into society. Wolf, Shark, Piranha, and Tarantula unsuccessfully apply for jobs while Snake is frequently away from home. Wolf spends his time with Diane and they grow closer, but they cannot start a relationship due to him being an ex-criminal and her being governor. Inspired by Diane to give people a reason to accept them, Wolf helps Commissioner Luggins track down the Phantom Bandit, a new criminal known for being untraceable. They soon find evidence leading to the bandit being Snake, only to later realize he was with his new girlfriend, Susan. In an attempt to expose the Phantom Bandit at a lucha libre wrestling tournament, the Bad Guys are framed by a pig for the Phantom Bandit's work. Wolf calls Diane to maintain their innocence and she agrees to help them.
The Bad Guys are later kidnapped by a trio of female criminals: Kitty Kat, Pigtail Petrova, and Doom. Kitty was the Phantom Bandit, Pigtail was the pig who framed the Bad Guys, and Doom used the name "Susan" as an alias and was using Snake to lure the Bad Guys. Kitty recruits them to help steal the experimental MOON-X rocket, using secret video footage revealing Diane as the Crimson Paw, her former criminal identity, as blackmail, so the Bad Guys reluctantly agree. Meanwhile, Diane visits a now-muscular Marmalade in prison, where after a long game of Connect 4, he reveals that Kitty plans to use the Multinational Space Station to steal all of the world's gold with MacGuffinite, a rare metal which can magnetically attract gold.
The group begins their plan by successfully stealing the smartwatch of the rocket's owner, Mr. Moon, at his wedding. Kitty gives Wolf the footage on a flash drive as promised, but betrays and traps them after the Bad Guys record her confession. Kitty then tries to upload the footage to the internet. Despite valiant efforts from Wolf and his gang to stop it, it ends up fully uploading, revealing Diane's secret identity globally, and alerting the police of the Bad Guys' location. Diane confronts the girls before they board the rocket, but Kitty reveals that the footage is now live and her secret identity has been revealed. A devastated Diane is tranquilized by Kitty while distracted, but manages to sneak on board while half-conscious. Luggins proceeds to rearrest the Bad Guys, but mid way, she reveals that she trusts them, and helps them board the rocket mid-launch via helicopter.
After learning the Bad Guys snuck onboard, Doom and Pigtail do not want to attack them, but Kitty refuses to give up the plan and overpowers the machine, endangering millions of people while magnetizing a large amount of gold, along with a limo including a newly-acquitted Marmalade. When Wolf reaches her, Kitty breaks the magnet's remote, but Wolf pickpockets the smartwatch, which allows him to maneuver the rocket into the magnet, destroying it and returning the gold. Enraged, Kitty attempts to kill Wolf for ruining her plan, but Diane recovers and defeats her. Wolf and Diane happily reunite and share their first kiss, while the Bad Guys regroup as the space station plummets towards Earth. After crash-landing, Kitty goes to prison, Doom and Pigtail are sentenced to community service, and Luggins fakes the deaths of the Bad Guys and Diane so they can be employed as secret agents for the government. Still in orbit, Marmalade transforms his limo into a spaceship and flies off into space, declaring that it's "time to go home".
On October 6, 2023, the then-unannounced film was revealed to be animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks. Imageworks would operate as a partner studio with DreamWorks utilizing a "mixed production model". Pre-production would be done in-house at DreamWorks along with approximately 50% of the asset build and one hour of production, while Imageworks will handle the other 50% of asset builds and 20 minutes of shot production.[13] All animation was finished by May 7, 2025.[14][bettersourceneeded]
Music
The Bad Guys 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Singles from The Bad Guys 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
"GOODLIFE" Released:July 11,2025
"Taking Everything" Released:July 25,2025
Daniel Pemberton returns to compose the film's score.[15]Rag'n'Bone Man and WizTheMc performed an original song for the film,titled "GOODLIFE",which was released as a single on July 11,2025,[16] while another original song titled "Taking Everything",performed by Busta Rhymes,was released on July 25.[17] The official soundtrack was released by Back Lot Music on August 1,2025,the same day as the film's theatrical release in the United States.[18]
Track listing
All music is composed by Daniel Pemberton, except as noted.
"GOODLIFE (Super Extended Mix)" (performed by Rag'n'Bone Man ft. WizTheMc)
Pemberton
Gary GoSanele
WizTheMc
Pemberton
8:47
39.
"Taking Everything (Film Mix)" (performed by Busta Rhymes)
Smith
Pemberton
Pemberton
3:41
40.
"The Big Bad Wolf 2 (Bonus)"
0:58
Marketing
The first trailer for the film, set to "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish, was released on November 21, 2024, and was later attached to the theatrical release of Wicked (2024).[4]
Main cast members Rockwell, Maron, Awkwafina, Robinson, Ramos, Brooks, Lyonne, and Bakalova appeared on a panel promoting the film at the 2025 San Diego Comic-Con on July 26 leading up to its theatrical release.[19]
Awkwafina appeared as a guest on Maron's long-running podcast WTF, in one of its final episodes, on July 31, in promotion of the film, on the eve of its American theatrical release.[20]
Release
The Bad Guys 2 was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2025, later in the United States on August 1, and in Australia on September 18.[11][21]
Home media
In addition to its theatrical release, and as part of a long-term deal with Netflix for Universal's animated films, the film will stream on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next 10, and returning to Peacock for the remaining four.[22][23][24]
The Bad Guys 2 was released on digital download on August 19, 2025,[25] and the film will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 7, 2025.[26]
Reception
Box office
As of September16,2025[update], The Bad Guys 2 has grossed $80 million in the United States and Canada, and $127.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $207.8 million.[3][2]
In the United States and Canada, The Bad Guys 2 was released alongside The Naked Gun and was projected to make $20 million during its opening weekend. After making $9.2 million on its first day, including $2.25 million from Thursday previews, the film surpassed expectations and debuted with $22.2 million domestically, and $44.5 million globally, ranking it in second place behind holdover The Fantastic Four: First Steps.[27][28][29] In its second weekend, the film made $10.4 million (a drop of 53%), falling to fourth place.[30]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 101 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "The Bad Guys 2's crew of reformed rapscallions are still a ton of fun as their latest adventure raises the stakes while maintaining a playful sense of mischief."[31]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 64 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[32] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the same as the first film.[33]
Future
In June 2025, two months before the theatrical release of The Bad Guys 2 in the United States, directors Perifel and Sans revealed in an interview with Collider that they were planning a third film.[34]
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