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Snake Eyes and the future of the G.I. Joe franchise

By Michael Williams

HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 28: Actors Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson attend the premiere of Paramount Pictures' "G.I. Joe:Retaliation" at TCL Chinese Theatre on March 28, 2013 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 28: Actors Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson attend the premiere of Paramount Pictures' "G.I. Joe:Retaliation" at TCL Chinese Theatre on March 28, 2013 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) /
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G.I. Joe, Channing Tatum, The Rock
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 18: (L-R) Elodie Yung, Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson and Adrianne Palicki attend the UK premiere of ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’ at The Empire Leicester Square on March 18, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images) /

How the G.I. Joe Civil War & Snake Eyes comics could shape the unreleased movies

What I find even more exciting is that Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins is being adapted with inspirations from the comic book area of the G.I. Joe universe.

The original Snake Eyes origins happened around the same time of the original Cobra Commander’s, after his brother’s car crashes into Snake Eyes’ family – leaving the two alone and angry. Cobra Commander would end up blaming the other car and sent a young hitman named Firefly to kill Snake Eyes in Japan. Speaking of Firefly, he appeared and was defeated in GI Joe: Retaliation sequel but if we learned anything about Cobra, their names are just monikers for their criminal front so a new Firefly could easily be reborn in the future.

Snake Eyes and long time rival, now friends, Storm Shadow are the focus of his comic book origins (written by Chuck Dixon for IDW back in 2012) which brings the former back to his Japan nation to the Arashikage clan. This comic run sees a grown Snake Eyes invade a Cobra base for revenge, but it will be interesting to see how the other Joes will be implemented in this arc. The death of Cobra’s brother was an interesting human element that really made Cobra’s story more emotionally rich, adding that dimension of empathy and drama to the atmosphere it created.

Though little is known about the future two G.I. Joe films, it’s possible that Snake Eyes could focus on the titular character’s discovery that the Cobra is responsible for his life-altering experience – including that of Storm Shadows which bonds them together to take down Cobra.

This film could ultimately delve into more of IDW’s later comic series’ development of Cobra which portrayed an entire secret society of Cobras, dating back as far as the Romans and early Japanese regimes – putting the Council of Cobra in a dispute for Cobra Commander (hence the Civil War title).

This is somewhat alluded to with the first movie as the prologue opened to a conflicted France that saw the McCullen ancestor punished in a metallic cleansing as the Man in the Iron mask – which was the base of origins for the character Destro. The comics reveal more history in terms of the Cobras’ past and how the Joes were formed.

With that in mind, this writer hopes that Paramount’s plan keeps the continuing series rich with story and that it doesn’t ultimately devolve into an Expendables rip-off with fancy bells and whistles. It is important that people walk away from it, knowing that they’ve seen more than just a really good action film. They should be able to appreciate the fact that they saw a film with authentic character development. And a stronger Snake Eyes film could ensure that we all return for Ever Vigilant whenever it’s released.

The G.I. Joe franchise was a big competitor to popular cartoons like Thundercats, Star Wars, and Ninja Turtles and with the right people behind it, it could undoubtedly become a strong competitor of modern-day films.

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