Bruce Willis is back as retired government operative Frank Moses along with John Malkovich and Helen Mirren as his fellow aging but still lethal colleagues Marvin and Victoria, respectively, and Mary Louise Parker as his game civilian lady love Sarah in RED 2, the sequel to the 2010 action-comedy that was a box office smash around the world.

The movie won’t hit theater screens until this summer, but Summit Entertainment has nonetheless released the first teaser trailer. You can watch it here below.

Joining the action this time around are Oscar winners Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins and Byung-hun Lee of I Saw the Devil and the G.I. Joe movies. It looks like once again Frank’s peaceful retired existence is being interrupted by a ton of globe-trotting mayhem and dodging multiple assassination attempts. Thus the time has come for Mirren, also an Oscar honoree, to break out the heavy artillery and Malkovich (MALKOVICH!!) to indulge in some of that crowd-pleasing loony schtick that made his character such a hoot to watch in the original.

Released back in October 2010 the comic action-thriller RED was a pleasant surprise. Based on a DC Comics graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hammer and directed by German-born Robert Schwentke (The Time Traveler’s Wife), RED brought together a killer cast (including Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Richard Dreyfuss, Karl Urban, and Brian Cox), armed them with cutting quips and heavy artillery, and let them have a paycheck-cashing ball. It was a hoot to see a fun action flick that relied more on old school ass-kicking and witty dialogue rather than CGI fireballs. The movie was also a huge success for distributor Summit Entertainment, grossing over $200 million and making a sequel inevitable.

In honor of the new Bruce Willis movie Red, which was released in theaters this past weekend, I recently went back to read the DC comic book series Red created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, from which the film was adapted.

Both the comic book and the movie center around Frank Moses (Willis’s character), a retired CIA agent who’s thrust back into the world of danger when he’s attacked by highly trained unknown assailants. The over-the-hill action-comedy film brought out the older generations to the theater in droves, thanks to the change in the story’s overall tone (from serious to light-hearted), as well as (in my opinion) the creation of Helen Mirren‘s character Victoria, another retiree whose sexy looks and stellar aim with a sniper rifle probably make her the most lethal of the bunch.

There were quite a few differences between the movie and the 3-issue miniseries, mostly in the addition of new characters — played by Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Brian Cox — as well as alternations to the Frank Moses character and his situation, along with plenty of deviations from the original story.

Here’s the Top 3 differences between the film and the comic book.

Check out Episode 16 of the Flix of Doom podcast, the official movie podcast of Geeks of Doom, with hosts Empress Eve and Justin Vactor.

This week, we’ll be reviewing the new Bruce Willis film Red, based on the comic book by Warren Ellis. We’ll also bring you the latest movie news and box office results.

Full Episode Guide is here below, along with player.

Listen now!

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Being familiar with the Warren Ellis original property, I was curious going into the panel for Summit Entertainment’s Red to see how far the tone of the film was going to change from the dark, violent graphic novel to the lighter blackly comic adaptation.

Moderator Eric Mora, Editor in chief of IGN Movies, introduced original Red comic creator Warren Ellis, artist Cully Hammer, producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, and actors Karl Urban, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, and Bruce Willis to the panel.

Bruce Willis praised the work of his co-stars, Mirren noted that with her and Morgan Freeman that they had both “the Queen and God” in the film, as she sported a Harvey Pekar memorial sweater. Warren Ellis noted that his motivation for allowing his property to be adapted was “lots of money… I could buy most of you now.” He wanted the producers to roll with the film in whatever direction they wanted.