'Men in Black 4' will feature female agent

"Men in Black 4" will have a "prominent Woman in Black", says producer.

According to BBC, producer Laurie MacDonald promises that "there will be a prominent Woman in Black in the fourth (film)", which she's developing with husband Walter Parkes, reports variety.com.

While 1997's "Men in Black" seemingly inducted Linda Fiorentino's character into the agency at the end of the film, she was absent from the two sequels.

"Men in Black II" featured Lara Flynn Boyle as the villainous Serleena, but the franchise has yet to have a female agent take a lead role.

Original franchise star Will Smith is currently not attached to the project, but Parkes said the actor could be lured back, telling the BBC: "Never count Will out."

The original movies centred on Smith's Agent J and his alien-hunting partner K (Tommy Lee Jones) as they tracked down aliens on the Earth and tried to keep their existence hidden from civilians.

"We tried to tell a story about those two characters and that relationship," Parkes said. "It sounds silly because it's a fun, science fiction comedy but when you work on these things you sort of try to find some thematic basis underneath it."