'G.I. Joe' Character Snake Eyes, Who Doesn't Talk, Is Getting a Whole Movie
The coolest G.I. Joe character ever was Snake Eyes, a ninja who wears black and doesn’t talk. Even in the last two G.I. Joe movies, he was still the coolest one even with The Rock right there. So naturally, he’s getting his own movie.
On Friday, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Paramount Pictures has begun development of a Snake Eyes spin-off. The studio has attached screenwriter Evan Spiliotopoulos, who previously wrote Disney’s billion-dollar hit Beauty and the Beast and will write the sequel to Netflix’s orc cop movie Bright.
The new project falls in line with Hasbro’s push for a cinematic universe that will include other Hasbro toy franchises like Transformers, Rom, Micronauts, and M.A.S.K. A new G.I. Joe movie for 2020 was previously announced when Hasbro announced its writer’s room, and last week, the rumored title G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant surfaced online. There is no release date for the Snake Eyes movie.
During Ronald Regan’s time as U.S. President in the 1980s, Hasbro unleashed the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero franchise, a heavily retooled version of the G.I. Joe dolls from the 1960s. The franchise encompassed everything from comic books to cartoons to, of course, toys. And the most popular character was Snake Eyes, a black-clad ninja whose brother, Storm Shadow, was his archenemy.
Ray Park (left) as Snake Eyes, in 2013's 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' with Dwayne Johnson (right).
In 2009, Paramount adapted the cartoon to the big screen in G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra and the 2013 sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Among its ensemble cast including Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, and later Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Bruce Willis, martial artist Ray Park — known for playing Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace — portrayed Snake Eyes.
An interesting thing about Snake Eyes is that his unknown origins and identity have masked his ethnicity, while his brother is canonically Japanese-American. In the G.I. Joe films, Snake Eyes was written as a white orphan adopted by the family of Storm Shadow. In the aftermath of whitewashing controversies such as in 2017’s Ghost in the Shell, it’s possible a conversation might take place regarding a white or Asian Snake Eyes if audiences continue to seek more ethnically diverse movies.
It’s unknown at this time if Snake Eyes will talk in his movie.
There is no release date for Hasbro and Paramount’s Snake Eyes movie. The next G.I. Joe film is slated for 2020.
