Suddenly, everybody’s talking about GI Joe again. What with rumblings of a third team movie finally getting off the ground, along with a spinoff featuring the little-seen character Chuckles, we’re also hearing of an actor to play the most popular Joe of all, Snake Eyes, in his upcoming solo movie. That choice, Henry Golding, either makes a lot of sense or none at all depending on your perspective.
The Crazy Rich Asians and A Simple Favor heartthrob, who just had a trailer for his holiday rom-com Last Christmas drop a few hours ago, is in talks to play Snake Eyes in Paramount and Hasbro’s movie. He’ll be taking over the role from Ray Park, who played the Joe’s resident ninja warrior in both GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra and its sequel, GI Joe: Retaliation. The film is being set up as a prequel following Snake Eyes’ attempts to join the Arashikage Clan. The Arashikage would also be where Snake Eyes meets his ultimate rival, Storm Shadow.
Okay, so to me this makes no sense. Golding is a very handsome man who is charming and commands the screen whenever he’s on. Snake Eyes is popular for the opposite reasons. The silent ninja badass is almost never seen without his mask or outside of his iconic costume. He’s tough to get along with and usually strikes out on his own. He’s basically the Wolverine of the GI Joe squad. Granted, this is a prequel so maybe they are doing a different take on the character, but then why make a Snake Eyes movie at all if that’s the case? On the other hand, Golding is a rising star and locking him into the franchise long-term makes some business sense.
Snake Eyes opens October 16th 2020, directed by Robert Schwentke. What do you think of Golding possibly playing Snake Eyes? [TheWrap]
