Bad Boys: Ride or Die makes the death of Joe Pantoliano's Captain Howard a major part of the story, but completely reframes the motive behind it. Many were surprised to see Pantoliano among the cast of Bad Boys: Ride or Die, considering Howard's fairly unambiguous demise during the third film. Alongside leading men Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, Pantoliano is the only actor to have appeared in every entry in the Bad Boys movie franchise. While the death of Howard was a shocking moment in the third entry, it served a narrative purpose.

Howard filled the role of the angry Captain typical of most cop movies, but Pantoliano brought both humor and heart to what could have been a one-note character. Bad Boys for Life underlined his love for his "bad boys" Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence), but Captain Howard's death at the hands of Mike's son Armando (Jacob Scipio) raised the stakes.