Spies in Disguise: Will Smith Drives an Audi RSQ E-Tron in the Animated Flick

The Audi RSQ E-Tron piloted by Will Smith’s secret agent character in Spies in Disguise looks like a spiritual successor to the RSQ that he drove in 2004’s I, Robot… or even the next-gen Audi R8.

Hollywood movies at times give us a tease of what’s coming from a carmaker. In fact, product placement has become so much sophisticated these days that manufacturers go to the extent of making cars exclusively for a big summer blockbuster. The Aston Martin DB10 from the James Bond flick, Spectre is an example. While we may not know yet on what Audi has in mind, we do have a strong feeling that the car – the one-off Audi RSQ E-Tron – featured in Will Smith vehicle “Spies in Disguise” is a gentle teaser on what to look out for in the upcoming Audi R8 replacement.

Alright, we know that look on your face. It’s an animated action comedy and we should not read too much into it. But look closely and the Audi RSQ E-Tron in the promo image above and in the trailer below does bear a striking resemblance to the Audi PB18 E-Tron concept as well as to the current-gen Audi R8. That’s more than enough to treat this animated concept as a direction that Audi is considering when it comes to revamping the ageing R8.

Co-starring Tom Holland (who we better know as the web-slinging Spidey from the MCU), Karen Gillan (another MCU star who plays Nebula), Rashida Jones and DJ Khaled, Spies in Disguise will be in theaters in September 2019.

This is the second time that Will Smith, or at least his character is driving an Audi concept car in a movie. The last outing was in 2004 in the successful sci-fi thriller I, Robot. He drove the Audi RSQ concept which was specifically designed and built for the David Proyas movie. It should be noted that the RSQ concept went on to influence the Audi R8 that we know today.

Described as an all-electric supercar which will cater to all the unusually dangerous day-to-day needs of Lance Sterling – the super-cool, super-spy played by Will Smith – it is indeed a bit weird to see the Audi RSQ E-Tron with an exhaust note in the trailer. Well, it would be a bit uncool to have it powerslide into the scene with the noise similar to that produced by a vacuum cleaner. Cinematic liberty exercised!

Source: Audi MediaCenter