Men in Black II is a 2002 American science fiction action comedy film based on the Marvel Comics series of a similar name. It is the sequel to Men in Black (1997) and is the second installment in the Men in Black franchise. The film was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld from a screenplay by Robert Gordon and Barry Fanaro, and it stars Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Lara Flynn Boyle, Johnny Knoxville, Rosario Dawson, Tony Shalhoub, and Rip Torn. In the film, the emergence of an assumed subdued alient threat reunites Kevin Brown / Agent K (Jones) and James Darrell Edwards III / Agent J (Smith).