Will Smith Is Making A Big Comeback

It looks like Will Smith is back, Big Willie Style in 2015, and I don't just mean spitting game on Jimmy Fallon. The artist formerly known as the Fresh Prince took a little hiatus after his sci-fi film After Earth tanked at the box office in 2013, saying that it cut so deep because he had worked on it with his son. Even though he's still been on the radar, Smith's coming back to the big screen in a big way this year: Will Smith is going to star in Paramount's Bounty, the story of a Bostonian man wrongly convicted for murder, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

But that's not the only thing he's got in the works: His first feature of the year is Focus, which hits theaters on February 27. It's a splashy, funny crime flick, starring Smith playing another charming version of himself opposite the beautiful and talented Margot Robbie from The Wolf Of Wall Street. Smith plays slick conman Nicky Spurgeon who falls in love with Robbie's Jess Barrett, and teaches her the tricks of his trade; years later, after they've gone their separate ways, they come face to face again in Buenos Aires and Spurgeon finds out that Barrett is in the con game herself. Sure, it sounds ridiculous, but who doesn't love a heist in Argentina?

Smith's tour de force this year in his return to silver-screen stardom, though, is his role as Deadshot in DC's highly anticipated suicide Squad. The film won't be released until summer of 2016, but there's already a ton of hype, especially because the story of the villains in the DC universe has got a great cast. Margot Robbie stars again alongside smith as Harley Quinn (she really is the real-life version of the cartoon, it's kind of uncanny). Not to mention Tom Hardy, Cara DeLevingne, and Jared Leto as The Joker.

And on Christmas this year, Smith's drama Concussion will hit theaters. Based on a true story, Concussion follows "Dr. Bennet Omalu (Smith), a real-life neuropathologist who discovers football-related life-long brain traumas in football players." Let's never forget how great Smith is in sports movies: he was nominated for an Academy Award in 2001 for playing the Greatest, the People's Champion in Ali.

As if that wasn't enough of a huge project to take on, Smith's now added Bounty, which will be more of a dramatic role. According to the synopsis, the film:

centers on a man (Smith) who is wrongly convicted of murder. He escapes from prison determined to prove his innocence — a nearly impossible task after the widow of the man he supposedly killed puts a $10 million bounty on him, dead or alive.

Though it'll probably be a pretty dark and serious role, Smith brings that damn charm of his to everything he does.

What else does he have in the pipeline? There's been ongoing talk since 2013 about Smith's mysterious production American Can. Deadline first reported that Smith would play the real John Keller, a Gulf War veteran who became a hero by saving several neighbors during Hurricane Katrina. Smith's got serious chops, if you've forgotten his roles in The Pursuit of Happyness and I Am Legend.

But as much as I have to give it up to Smith for expanding his horizons — and I have no doubt that he will be great as a conman, a villain, a wrongly convicted man and a heroic vet — I have to say I am most excited for Bad Boys 3. Because, well — BAD BOYS 3! Welcome back, Will Smith, you're still as fresh as ever.

Images: Getty (2).