Third GI Joe movie coming

If you have a reboot to promote based off an old property, you call...well, apparently the people behind Robot Chicken.

Huh, I saw this trailer when I went to see Black Widow.

Maybe the mods could change the title of the thread to Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins

Apparently early reviews call this the best Joe movie made.

Which considering this is the highlight, is a low, low bar to clear -

G.I. Joe's Real-Life Connection Between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow

....Wasn't Snake Eyes a white dude in the previous movie?

In fact, isn't that supposed to be one of the reasons Storm Shadow has beef with him?

Snake Eyes was white in the previous movie yes, (and white in some other continuities I believe). Storm Shadow's beef with him seemed to be him being an outsider not necessarily him being white but they never make any commentary on race.

Their beef is...complicated. Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow were war buddies in 'Nam, but Snake Eyes was directionless after the war. Storm Shadow invited him over to be a ninja, but there was a combination of events that saw Snake Eyes leave the ninja clan as Storm Shadow tried to figure out who ended up killing one of his masters. There's only one series where it's a direct case of "I hate you because my clan wanted to teach you their sacred techniques and not me" and that was...Warren Ellis, and also something Larry Hama said didn't gel with his version of the characters.

It's less "I hate you because you're an outsider" and more "what did you bring in?" as well as the inherit tragedy of two friends on opposite sides of a war.

Edited by Beatman1 on Jul 21st 2021 at 10:38:14 AM

He was also brainwashed by Cobra Commander for a time into a puppet.

And later broke out of it and became a Joe himself.

Most of the Joes and Cobra agents have really interesting history and backstory in the original continuity.

So, the former version is basically a story of two war veterans Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life while the latter version is your typical martial arts rival story. Would that be a correct assessment?

I do wonder if maybe Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow are a little out of place in the GI joe franchise at times given the ninja-focus of their stories.

Also, has anyone ever commented on the fact that the good ninja is called Snake-Eyes while the evil organization is called Cobra?

Wait, was Storm Shadow always a Japanese guy? I know Snake Eyes was white in some continuities.

Edited by windleopard on Jul 21st 2021 at 10:05:46 AM

I'd say that's correct, and it's part of the inherent tragedy of the characters in the former, that war is all they know. As for the fact that there were ninjas running around and under Larry Hama's pen they were basically Jedi, under the strength of those ninja stories, Joe was the bestselling Marvel comic of the 80s. More so than X-Men.. (Which they then ran into the ground but that's another story).

It's worth remembering that a lot of Joe was framed by Larry Hama's own experiences in Vietnam as an EOD. It's why the jargon in the comics was so accurate and also why Vietnam figured so heavily into the original backstories.

Edited by Beatman1 on Jul 21st 2021 at 11:00:43 AM

Larry Hama dealt with bombs in Vietnam?! This is the first I hear of it! It's both hardcore and crazy dangerous!

Tunnel Rat the character was modeled after Larry Hama himself, and according to TF Wiki Dot Net (in discussion of why the Decepticons got their name in Transformers Prime), the name itself a demonizing name referring to "American soldiers penetrating Vietcong's tunnels during Vietnam War", and one that the soldiers adopted as a badge of pride.

Edited by Shadao on Jul 21st 2021 at 5:02:45 AM

To be honest, I'm not all that interested in the movie. Don't get me wrong, already have tickets to see it tomorrow, but even as a casual GI Joe fan this doesn't quite get me excited.

The thing is that Snake Eyes is popular for being always masked, silent, a badass ninja and THE Hypercompetent Sidekick of the team (he basically gets things done that are normally handled by entire squads). A prequel that shows his face, has him talk and learn how to be awesome is more likely to remove that mystique than earn it.

Well origins do provide explanations which by definition removes the mystique.

Coincidentally, Hasbro has officially uploaded the Arashikage Clan centric episodes of G.I. Joe: Renegades in a three part compilation.

Edited by XMenMutant22 on Jul 21st 2021 at 11:07:04 AM

^^ I mean, exactly? The character is supposed to be a little mysterious, that's what makes him fun. If the origin movie tells us everything about the character, any potential sequels can't go back to him being mysterious.

I was agreeing with you on that point.

Actually now that I remember Renegade do a pretty good job of keeping him mysterious even durin that backstory. Helps that he was mute even then and where he came from wasn’t necessarily explained so he was still pretty mysterious.

The two previous live action movies also did decent service to the Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow history and rivalry. Most people consider that the best part of those films.

I do think Renegades is probably the best modern take on GI Joe since the original cartoon. Resolute was fun but you can clearly tell it's trying to appeal to those interested in nostalgia but ultra-violent. Renegades has an unusual premise but you can really tell how much it loves the characters, and by the end of the first season you get the feeling it is an origin story setting up a more traditional Joes vs Cobra dynamic. Sad it didn't get a second season.

Reviews are coming in decidedly mixed with a 45% on the old Tomatometer -

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/snake_eyes_gi_joe_origins

On the plus side, Golding seems to be doing good work acting wise, which probably means Sony will still want him to play Saitama.

Wait what about Saitama?

Sony has apparently been eyeing Henry Golding for the shortlist to play the character in an adaptation of One-Punch Man, with Chole Zhao eyed to direct. His performance here shows leading actor material.

Edited by Beatman1 on Jul 22nd 2021 at 9:34:35 AM

Holy shit.

Can't say I disagree with the idea of showing Snake Eyes' origin does kill a lot of his mystique, but I have to admit what sold me on this movie isn't its connection to GI Joe at all. The trailers just make it seem like a solid action movie.

Ha. I'm always gonna find it funny how Renegades Storm Shadow pulled off the perfect Treachery Cover Up by pure accident, because he never realized he was the real murderer.

And in the end, he's the one who puts all the clues together and realizes the truth before the others did. He solved the murder that he unintentionally caused.

And it's not like he was in denial either. He just hated Snake-Eyes so much he never put two and two together until outside evidence made him re-evaluate what happened.

How did he end up being the one who committed the murder without knowing it?