The Bad Guys

Work on the film started in March 2018, with Cohen writing the screenplay; the characters and themes drew inspiration from various crime films and anime series such as Pulp Fiction (1994), the Ocean’s film trilogy, Lupin III, and Sherlock Hound, while the inspiration for the film’s animation style came from Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). Production began at DreamWorks Animation’s Glendale campus and some additional production assets were borrowed from Jellyfish Pictures, with voice acting being done remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bad Guys was released theatrically in several countries beginning March 16, 2022, and in the United States on April 22, in 2D and RealD 3D formats. It received positive reviews from critics for its animation, screenplay, humor, and voice acting. It was also a box office success, grossing $250 million worldwide.

After being insulted by Governor Diane Foxington on live television for their predictability, Wolf convinces his gang to pull off a heist to steal a valuable award, the Golden Dolphin, before it is awarded to guinea pig philanthropist Professor Marmalade. At the gala, Wolf inadvertently helps an elderly woman and feels good for it, which arise conflicted feelings on him and delay their escape, resulting in their arrest. Secretly planning to steal the award again, Wolf persuades Foxington to let Marmalade reform them.

Marmalade’s initial attempts to reform the gang are disastrous and an attempt to rescue guinea pigs from a research lab goes awry due to Wolf’s best friend and second-in-command, Mr. Snake, eating them. Foxington decides to call off the experiment, but relents when Wolf confesses that he became a criminal because it was easier to fall into the villainous role society expects of him due to his species; she admits she understands and has hope for him. Wolf then finds himself rescuing a cat from a tree, which Marmalade records and publishes, turning the public image of the gang around.

At another gala, Wolf, having fallen in love with Foxington and seeing that he and his gang could actually go good, ultimately decides to take the offer of a fresh start. In sudden poor timing, however, a meteorite which was on display is stolen, and the gang is blamed and arrested. Marmalade meets them in private and reveals that he stole the meteorite and had planned for the gang to be framed. He also reveals that he was the old woman Wolf had helped at the first gala, much to Wolf’s fury.

In prison, Wolf tells his gang that he does not want to be a criminal anymore and that he believes a better life is possible for all of them. Snake rejects his proposal, adamant their public perception cannot be turned. Their fight is interrupted when a mysterious person, soon revealed to be Foxington, rescues them. Wolf identifies her as The Crimson Paw, a former criminal mastermind. Now free, the gang still rejects Wolf, who goes with Foxington. The gang finds their hideout wholly emptied of their loot, as Wolf had revealed its location to Foxington earlier to appease for his crimes. After Snake willingly gives Mr. Shark his last Push Pop out of kindness, they realize that Wolf was right and set out to help him. However, Snake denies it and allies with Marmalade, who plans to use the meteorite to power a device to hypnotize an army of guinea pigs into stealing his own charity funds. Foxington reveals to Wolf that she reformed when she was about to steal the Golden Dolphin, realizing that she was not being anything more than what everyone saw her as.

Wolf and Foxington break into Marmalade’s home to steal the meteorite, only to be captured by Marmalade and Snake. The rest of the gang rescues them and steals the meteorite while foiling Marmalade’s heist. Chasing them to get Snake back, Marmalade kicks Snake out of his helicopter to blackmail Wolf to give him the meteorite back. However, the gang rescues Snake and destroys Marmalade’s mind-control device, before surrendering to the authorities to prevent Foxington from revealing her criminal past.

Marmalade attempts to take credit for recovering the meteorite, but it is revealed to be a fake planted by Snake, who had faked his defection and secretly switched it for the manor’s meteorite-shaped lamp and rigged the real meteorite to explode, blowing up Marmalade’s manor and exposing him as the thief. When the lamp falls on Marmalade, a diamond that he stole from Foxington falls out of his suit, which police chief Misty Luggins recognizes as having been stolen by the Crimson Paw years ago. With his true nature exposed, and implicated as the Crimson Paw, Marmalade is arrested. Wolf then reveals to Snake that he deliberately left behind the Push Pop, much to Snake’s shock.

The gang is still sent to prison for their former crimes but released for good behavior after one year, and join Foxington to begin their new lives.