In today’s age of remakes and reboots, I often agree with audience sentiments about how tired we are of seeing something old redone so many years later. However, after seeing the new trailer for “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” the Donald Glover co-created, upcoming Prime Video comedy series — I may actually be here for it. But not for the reasons you might think. Hear me out!
The new series stars Glover in the titular role as “Mr. Smith” and Maya Erskine as “Mrs. Smith” — two lonely strangers who land a job working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glamorous life of espionage, wealth, world travels and a dream brownstone in Manhattan. The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. & Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, the couple must navigate a high risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone.
If this concept sounds like you’ve heard it before, it’s because it’s based off the popular 2005 film of the same name starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. However, one of the biggest contrasts folks online have been quick to point out is the obvious lack of sexual tension between the two leads. (I mean, you could cut the tension between Angelina and Brad with a knife, so much so that the pair became tabloid icons). And while Glover and Erskine are no “Brangelina,” (and for the record, neither are Pitt and Jolie anymore), there still might be some merit to this new show, and I’ll explain why.
When it comes to the trend of successful remakes and reboots of popular films and TV shows — take, for instance, “Bel-Air,” “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” and “And Just Like That” for example — there are specific markers that helped audiences buy into the story.
The first thing is the actual story itself, where we find these characters now in this new iteration, introductions to new characters and storylines, and more. Is it a continuation or a just a retelling of what already was? The second thing is the shift in tone or genre. The original “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” was a comedy, but “Bel-Air” flipped the idea on its head and made it a drama with high stakes, an equally charismatic lead and an all-new (beautifully melanated) cast. This paid off in both ratings, consistent viewership, and fanbase.
In the case of the new “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” the genre appears to shift from the super-sexy, action-filled one in the original to a more darkly comedic yet still action-filled version. It’s also giving us a brand new characters and a new story all together which will likely do well to distance itself from the direct comparisons to the original. And given Glover’s successful track record of telling comedic stories (looking at you “Atlanta”) and this new show’s new premise — I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a part of me that’s interested in seeing how it will play out.
Whether the execution will be as good as the ideation, that’s something we’ll have to wait and find out on Feb. 2, 2024. Will it be sexy? Will it be silly? We won’t know unless we tune in, and, knowing Childish Gambino, it will be a little bit of everything.