Let’s not be shy here, Magic Mike was great.  While the “male stripper movie” did indeed have a certain degree of entertainment value in the form of its leading men, director Steven Soderbergh took this seemingly eyeroll-inducing premise and turned it into a fairly poignant drama about the American Dream.  And so it’s with a significant degree of anticipation that both those fawning over the stars and those interested in the artistic value of the story await the upcoming sequel, which sees Soderbergh returning as director of photography, editor, and camera operator while Gregory Jacobs takes over the director’s chair.

As the film is poised to be released this summer, the first Magic Mike 2 poster has dropped along with the news that the film’s first trailer will arrive tomorrow.  Star Channing Tatum previously revealed that Magic Mike XXL will be a “road trip movie” and a bit lighter in tone than the first film, and while Matthew McConaughey is sadly not returning, they added a slew of exciting new faces to the lineup including Elizabeth Banks, Donald Glover, and Jada Pinkett Smith.

This first poster elicited a full guffaw from myself upon first glance, as Tatum and Co. are wholly embracing the film’s subject matter with tongue firmly planted in cheek.  Well done, sirs.

Check out the Magic Mike 2 poster below, via Tatum’s Twitter account, and check back tomorrow to watch the first trailer.  Magic Mike XXL opens in theaters on July 1st.

Here’s the official synopsis for Magic Mike XXL:

Picking up the story three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, “Magic Mike XXL” finds the remaining Kings of Tampa likewise ready to throw in the towel. But they want to do it their way: burning down the house in one last blow-out performance in Myrtle Beach, and with legendary headliner Magic Mike sharing the spotlight with them. On the road to their final show, with whistle stops in Jacksonville and Savannah to renew old acquaintances and make new friends, Mike and the guys learn some new moves and shake off the past in surprising ways.