Snake Eyes is one of the most stoic, disciplined and spirituous fighters in the G.I. Team.
But there’s also another inescapable fact attached to his character: Snake Eyes is mute in all renditions so far. This is about to change, for director Lorenzo di Bonaventura confirms that Henry Golding’s Snake Eyes won’t be mute in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe: Origins.
Sitting down with Empire, di Bonaventura explains there’s a good reason behind this.
Snake Eyes’ origin and majorly, the reason behind his muteness are shrouded in mystery throughout the toyline, comics and animated series. In the live-action movies G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, his muteness is built up as a vow of silence taken after the death of his Ninjutsu master.
Despite the silence, Snake Eyes has been a fan favourite. Di Bonaventura wants to capitalise on that, bringing to the screens a side of Snake Eyes fans haven’t seen before, but definitely long for. Here’s more:
Snake Eyes has been this great enigma, so getting underneath the mask presented an interesting challenge for us and also an opening that no one had any real preconceived biases towards […] And honestly, part of that came out of the fact that it was a struggle to shoot with Snake Eyes before, because he could never talk! By starting before he has problems talking and before he’s hidden, it just allows you into the character in a way that I don’t think you very often get.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura
The departure from the “original” movies is also a smart move. For although G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra performed well at the box office (which led to its sequel), there wasn’t enough meat to the storyline for the franchise to keep going.
Revisiting Snake Eyes’ origin in 2021 as a soft-reboot, not only gives new fans a chance to connect with the series, but also rewards veterans with insights they only hoped to discover.
Adding to what we’ve already seen in the trailer, di Bonaventura also addresses the infamous rivalry between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow (played by Andrew Koji), who is known to be conflicted and often switches sides, betraying his G.I Joe Team.
“Here, [Storm Shadow] he’s not a bad guy by any stretch of the imagination, he’s a representative of the Arashikage clan. But you see the internal rage and internal perspective that could lead him down the path that he eventually comes to, that we’re more familiar with.”
Lorenzo di Bonaventura
The movie also makes room for Scarlet Fever played by Samara Weaving and an introduction of the Cobra antagonism in the form of Úrsula Corberó’s The Baroness.
The exploration into Snake Eyes’ identity will take us through his training with the Japanese ninja clan Arashikaje, eventually leading to his decision of becoming a G.I. Joe. As we yet know nothing about the significance behind the moniker Snake Eyes, it will definitely be a treat to find out.
As for whether or not we will have a mute Snake Eyes on screen again, is up to us! Di Bonaventura hopes that Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe: Origins will build up a good audience reception that allows a sequel exploring Snake Eyes’ injury and consequent muteness.
Say what – shall we go watch Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe: Origins in theatres July 23?
About Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins
Snake Eyes (also known as Snake Eyes: G.I, Joe Origins) is an upcoming American superhero film directed by Robert Schwentke, with a screenplay written by Evan Spiliotopoulos, Joe Shrapnel, and Anna Waterhouse, from a story by Spiliotopoulos. Based on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe toy, comic, and media franchise, the film is a reboot of the G.I. Joe film series and serves as an origin story for the title character Snake Eyes.
Henry Golding stars as the character, replacing Ray Park who portrayed him in the previous films, while Andrew Koji, Ursula Corbero, Samara Weaving, Haruka Abe, Takehiro Hira, and Iko Uwais also star.
The movie follows a lone fighter who is welcomed into and trained by an ancient Japanese ninja clan called the Arashikage, but finds his loyalties being tested when secrets from his past are revealed, as he eventually goes on the path to become the hero known as “Snake Eyes”.
Source: Empire Online
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