'The Bad Guys' Second Trailer Released

It's been a while since we were legitimately excited for a new DreamWorks Animation film. The Boss Baby and Trolls films certainly have their fans and work well for young audiences, but for the grown-up animation lovers out there, they didn't exactly jump to the top of their must-watch list. The release of the first trailer for their upcoming feature The Bad Guys was a very pleasant surprise.

Based on a popular series of Scholastic children's books( penned by Aaron Blabey) about a gang of criminal animals who try to go straight, that first teaser caught us all unaware. Featuring a fun caper-movie like tone and a design sensibility that is quite distinct from typical DreamWorks flare, it looked like an absolute heap of fun.

The second trailer does nothing to dampen our enthusiasm and expands on the first to reveal more of the plot. There's more of the gang headed up by the immaculately dressed Mr Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell) running riot on a one-gang crimewave... until the law eventually catches up with them.

The second trailer reveals the twist that the gang's plan to clean up their act is actually a ruse, designed to allow them to get back to getting up to no good... at least at first. As Mr Wolf's involuntarily wagging tail reveals, maybe being good doesn't feel so bad.

It's not featured in the trailer, but ultimately the city will be threatened by a new villain, and Mr Wolf has to try to persuade the gang to become The Good Guys for real.

The Bad Guys is the feature debut by Pierre Perifel, previously a director on some of DWA's small-screen ventures and of the short Bilby. It's written by Etan Cohen, whose credits include writing for animated series including King Of The Hill, Recess and Beavis and Butthead, and not to be mistaken for Ethan Coen,  Oscar-winning writer-director of Fargo, True Grit and No Country For Old Men, and half of the Coen Brothers.

The voice cast also features  Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade and Zazie Beetz.

The Bad Guys opens in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on April 1, with the release in the US and Canada following on April 22.

Watch the new trailer, below.