The GI Joe franchise hasn’t had it easy on the big screen. The 2009 movie was, frankly, not great. But 2013’s GI Joe: Retaliation was an improvement, enhanced by Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock, a Bruce Willis performance where he almost looks like he wants to be there, and an absolutely brilliant multi-colored ninjas on a mountainside stunt fight that showcased Snake Eyes in all his glory.
But despite that, GI Joe 3 is taking its time getting off the ground. The project certainly exists, and it’s slated for a March 27th 2020 release at the moment. In the meantime, Paramount isn’t about to sleep on this franchise, though, as they’ve just put a GI Joe spinoff movie focusing on Snake Eyes into development.
Evan Spiliotopoulos (Beauty and the Beast, The Huntsman: Winter’s War) is expected to write a script. No word on a director or a potential release date yet. Ray Park played Snake Eyes in the previous two GI Joe movies. It’s not clear if he’s expected back for this one.
But let’s think about the ways this movie could go. We could get a detailed Snake Eyes origin movie, one that also ties in plenty of Storm Shadow for good measure. Or it could just focus on an already established Snake Eyes and maintain the mystery of the character. The question is, how much will the studio gamble on a lead character who never speaks?
But surely everyone will be happy if the climax of the movie ends up being a tribute to “Silent Interlude.” “Silent Interlude” was a story by Larry Hama from the vastly underrated GI Joe Marvel Comics series of the 1980s. A good chunk of Snake Eyes’ mystique began right here, in a comic story told entirely without dialogue, as Snake Eyes mounts a single badass assault on Destro’s castle.
We’ll keep you posted as we hear more…