History YMMV / MenInBlack

** Creator/WillSmith was originally slated to play Neo in ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' trilogy. In that movie, he would have fought Agent Smith, a villain who [[BadassInANiceSuit greatly resembles an MIB agent]].

** Creator/WillSmith was originally slated to play Neo in ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' trilogy. In that movie, he would have fought Agent Smith, a villain who [[BadassInANiceSuit greatly resembles an MIB agent]]. Similarly, J poking fun at another MIB candidate by calling him 'ComicBook/CaptainAmerica' means something different after Will was briefly linked to [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger the role]]. Not to mention Creator/TommyLeeJones being in the film. Bonus in that the candidate is named [[Film/TheLosers Jake]] [[Creator/ChrisEvans Jensen]].

** Smith's "Men in Black" tie-in song is based on a sample from Patrice Rushen's "Forget Me Nots". Ironic choice for a film centered around LaserGuidedAmnesia.
** Speaking of the tie-in song, it won a UsefulNotes/GrammyAward for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1998, an award that was co-presented by Creator/ChrisRock. 24 years later, Smith would slap Rock during that year's [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Awards]] after Rock made a joke about his wife Creator/JadaPinkettSmith.

** Frank the pug is this as well seeing that pugs are known to be ugly cute in real life.

** Not to mention the entire dynamic between K and J in the previous two movies has to be re-imagined thanks to the revelation in 3 that [[spoiler:K feels extreme guilt over getting J's father killed.]]

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The reason why K so quickly recruits J into the MIB as well as acting like a surrogate father makes more sense when it's revealed that [[spoiler:K pretty much ''does'' consider himself J's surrogate father to make up for accidentally getting J's real father killed.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: One of the first stories in the volume 1 was about a group of teenagers finding a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' clone that summons a real demon with a 20-sides dice. Like 10 years later, a [[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/38072/men-black tabletop game based on MIB was made]], based on the first movie.

* TheWoobie: Agent J, of course.

* CompleteMonster: The movies have [[YMMV/MenInBlack3 Boris the Animal]], while the cartoon has [[YMMV/MenInBlackTheSeries Alpha and Vangus]]. See those respective pages for more details.

* RonTheDeathEater: WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows had a different take on MIB:

** The Latin American dub had to change a small line in the movie's intro, given that Agent K had originally told Mikey "You don't speak a word of Spanish" after realizing he was in disguise. This became "¡Y parece que eres mudo además!" ("And further, you'are apparently mute!").

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Agent L, played by Creator/LindaFiorentino, never came back in the sequels. Her absence is explained by J claiming she wanted to go back to work at the morgue, and thus was neuralyzed by him[[note]]A terribly weak excuse after joining the MIB being stressed as a permanent life-changing decision which involves [[UnPerson your entire life being erased]] until you're old enough to be forced into retirement- the idea that L just "decided to leave" heavily undermines the speech Z gave J during his "suiting up" montage; still, the earlier scene with T already gave a HandWave with J just neuralyzing the other agent and trying to hook him up with a waitress[[/note]]. (Of course, when writing Elle, nobody had any idea that Fiorentino would be exceedingly hard to work with, thus [[WrittenInAbsence necessitating her departure]].) It could instead have been easily explained that she wanted to return to the morgue and MIB decided stationing an agent directly at the morgue under a new identity, in order to track potential cases was beneficial. There was no need for her to reappear but it would keep the supposed stakes of enlisting as MIB for life. Still, in the animated series she's still an agent, and her lack of presence in the live-action movies hasn't stopped fanfic writers from doing stories where she returns to MIB and becomes an agent once again.

--> '''J''': Did you ever flashy-thing me?
--> '''K''': No.
--> '''J''': I ain't playing with you, K. Did you ever flashy-thing me?
--> '''K''': No.

-->'''K:''' I've just gone down the gullet of an interstellar cockroach. That's one of a hundred memories ''I don't want''.

** On the subject, the song won a UsefulNotes/GrammyAward for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1998, an award that was co-presented by Creator/ChrisRock. 24 years later and Smith would slap Rock during that year's [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Awards]] after Rock made a joke about his wife Creator/JadaPinkettSmith.

* AcceptableTargets: Agent K considers a lot of targets as "acceptable" to [[WellIntentionedExtremist pursuit the "greatest good".]]

* AdaptationDisplacement: It was originally an indie comic book. One that didn't focus exclusively on aliens, either. Originally, the MIB's job was to snuff anything too weird for the American public. The first issue was all about a New Mexico death cult, for example.
** Additionally, MIB was not nearly as benevolent in the comics. Instead of having a neuralyzer, agents would outright murder a witness to cover-up or complete a mission, as well as executing and torturing innocent aliens. The organization also had an ulterior agenda that involved manipulating Earth as opposed to simply protecting it.
*** Which is more similar to the MIB in the ''Series/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' series, and inspired by actual alien-related conspiracy theories [[TheMenInBlack about such people]].

** Not only does the novel state outright that shooting the Tiffany target was the right call, the novelization also includes the detail that Jay's pistol (and presumably those of the other candidates) was loaded with only one bullet, making the firing range test clearly a HiddenPurposeTest and/or SecretTestOfCharacter.

** Creator/WillSmith was originally slated to play Neo in ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' trilogy. In that movie, he would have fought Agent Smith, a villain who [[BadassInANiceSuit greatly resembles an MIB agent]]. Similarly, J poking fun at another MIB candidate by calling him 'ComicBook/CaptainAmerica' means something different after Will was briefly linked to [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger the role]]. Not to mention Creator/TommyLeeJones being in the film.
*** Bonus in that the candidate is named [[Film/TheLosers Jake]] [[Creator/ChrisEvans Jensen]].
** The first film (released in 1997) includes a scene where K talks about a "fascinating little gadget" confiscated from aliens that's "going to replace [=CDs=] soon". To anyone watching the movie after 2001, he sounds like a time traveler describing the iPod to someone in TheNineties.
*** For added irony, K also offhandedly remarks that "I'll have to buy Music/TheWhiteAlbum again". In the early years of iTunes, the store's failure to carry music by Music/TheBeatles was one of the biggest complaints against it.
*** The device itself looks remarkably similar to a [=DataPlay=] disc, one of many failed attempts at introducing a new optical disc-based music format, right down to it being the size of a coin. The [=DataPlay=] format, by sheer coincidence, was first introduced in 2002, the same year that the second film came out.

* UglyCute: The gunk-spitting alien squid baby that J helps deliver. He even remarks that it does look kinda cute.

* AcceptableTargets: Human!Edgar, the wife-beating redneck whom Bug!Edgar kills and turns into a disguise for himself at the start of the first film. Obviously didn't want anyone [[UnintentionallySympathetic worrying about]] what happens to someone who gets eaten by a space cockroach.

* CriticalResearchFailure: When Kay gives his speech about how "people are dumb" he cites examples of knew knowledge like the Earth not being the center of the universe or it not being flat as though such events led to disaster instead of aiding in the development of human civilization. In particular his comment about how "Five hundred years ago, everybody ''knew'' the Earth was flat," referring to the idea that UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus was the one who proved the Earth was round, which is a myth.

* {{Woolseyism}}: Edward's line about NYPD meaning he will [="kNock Yo Punkass Down"=] was rather brilliantly rendered in the Danish translation as: "Nu Ydmyger Politimanden Dig" (Now the Policeman Humiliates You).

** The induction speech is creepier due to (possibly apocryphal) rumors that Will Smith was being taken in by the Church of Scientology.
** Any movie set in New York before 2001 is sure to feature the World Trade Center in skyline shots.
** J -- at that point still a police officer -- shooting a "little girl" during the firing range test can be more uncomfortable to many viewers nowadays, since there have been multiple police shootings of children that got significant attention.

** Laurel's remark, "But don't tell him, he looks like he's already under enough stress.".

* UncannyValley: Aliens in more questionable human disguises will have this effect.

** ''You know what's the difference between you and me? I make this look good.''
** ''A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.''

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Agent L, played by Creator/LindaFiorentino, never came back in the sequels. Her absence is explained by J claiming she wanted to go back to work at the morgue, and thus was neuralyzed by him[[note]]A terribly weak excuse after joining the MIB being stressed as a permanent life-changing decision which involves [[UnPerson your entire life being erased]] until you're old enough to be forced into retirement- the idea that L just "decided to leave" heavily undermines the speech Z gave J during his "suiting up" montage; still, the earlier scene with T already gave a HandWave with J just neuralyzing the other agent and trying to hook him up with a waitress[[/note]]. (Of course, when writing Elle, nobody had any idea that Fiorentino would be exceedingly hard to work with, thus [[McLeaned necessitating her departure]].) It could instead have been easily explained that she wanted to return to the morgue and MIB decided stationing an agent directly at the morgue under a new identity, in order to track potential cases was beneficial. There was no need for her to reappear but it would keep the supposed stakes of enlisting as MIB for life. Still, in the animated series she's still an agent, and her lack of presence in the live-action movies hasn't stopped fanfic writers from doing stories where she returns to MIB and becomes an agent once again.

* ValuesResonance: This [[https://korrasamishipper.tumblr.com/post/620878903495557120/alex51324-insanity-keeps-things-fun moment]] shows how Edwards recognizing and then not acting on his biasness.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** The induction speech is creepier due to (possibly apocryphal) rumors that Will Smith was being taken in by the Church of Scientology.
** Any movie set in New York before 2001 is sure to feature the World Trade Center in skyline shots. (Also see the FunnyAneurysmMoment entry on the ''YMMV/MenInBlackTheSeries'' page.)
** J -- at that point still a police officer -- shooting a "little girl" during the firing range test can be more uncomfortable to many viewers nowadays, since there have been multiple police shootings of children that got significant attention.

* HarsherInHindsight: This exchange:

** Though it could have referring to the fact that J had been memory wiped earlier in the movie, [[spoiler:we later find out that yes, K did wipe J's memory when he was little after his father was killed in ''Men in Black'' 3]].

* SpiritualAdaptation: [[https://youtu.be/f5PDKbumRmI?t=505 This video]] argues that the first ''Men in Black'' movie is probably the closest we're going to get to a third movie in the original ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' series, especially since the [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 actual]] third ''Ghostbusters'' movie ended up being a reboot... or at least, until ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' was announced as a continuation from the original two films and [[SuprisinglyImprovedSequel released to critical acclaim]].

* SpiritualAdaptation: [[https://youtu.be/f5PDKbumRmI?t=505 This video]] argues that the first ''Men in Black'' movie is probably the closest we're going to get to a third movie in the original ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' series, especially since the [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 actual]] third ''Ghostbusters'' movie ended up being a reboot... or at least, until ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' was announced as a continuation from the original two films and [[SurpisinglyImprovedSequel released to critical acclaim]].

* SpiritualAdaptation: [[https://youtu.be/f5PDKbumRmI?t=505 This video]] argues that the first ''Men in Black'' movie is probably the closest we're going to get to a third movie in the original ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' series, especially since the [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 actual]] third ''Ghostbusters'' movie ended up being a reboot... or at least, until ''Ghostbusters Afterlife'' was announced as a continuation from the original two films.