Sony Pictures has released a new Equalizer 2 trailer for the upcoming sequel. Denzel Washington returns as Robert McCall, a retired agent turned hired gun, and director Antoine Fuqua is back as well for the duo's first-ever sequel. Yes indeed, this is the first time in his esteemed career that Denzel Washington has made a sequel, and this trailer certainly leans into the franchise aspect of Equalizer while side-stepping some of the more spoilery plot points that were peppered into the first trailer for the film.

The story of the follow-up finds McCall seeking revenge over the death of someone close to him, and he has a list of names to get through. But first, as shown in this trailer, we pick up with McCall continuing to perform "good deeds" with brute force, and we see here that he's working as a Lyft driver with a very particular set of skills.

It'll be interesting to see if this does indeed become a fully fledged franchise with future films in the series, or if Washington was simply enticed by the specific story that The Equalizer 2 tells. The first movie grossed nearly $200 million against a budget of $55 million, so I'm curious to see how the follow-up does when it hits theaters next month.

Check out the new The Equalizer 2 trailer below. Also starring Melissa LeoBill PullmanPedro Pascal and Jonathan Scarfe, the film opens on July 20th.

Here's the official logline for The Equalizer 2:

Denzel Washington returns to one of his signature roles in the first sequel of his career. Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed – but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?

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Image via Sony Pictures
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Image via Sony Pictures
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Image via Sony Pictures