The upcoming live-actionG.I. Joespin-offSnake Eyeshas found its Storm Shadow. British actor Andrew Koji has been cast in the role. Koji will star alongsideCrazy Rich Asiansbreakout Henry Golding, who was recently cast as the titular character. Paramount Pictures is viewing this as a way to relaunch the live-action franchise based on the popular toyline. It will be the third live-action movie in the series overall.
According to a new report,Andrew Kojihas locked down a deal to play Storm Shadow inSnake Eyes. Joki previously starred in TV shows such asWarriorandThe Innocents. He also had a minor role inFast & Furious 6. This will easily be his most high-profile starring role to date. The character of Storm Shadow was previously played in live-action by Byung-Hun Lee in both G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. While it was largely assumed, the change in casting is a larger signal that Paramount will be abandoning the previous iteration of the franchise in favor of establishing some new continuity.
The character ofStorm Shadowis one of the more popular and well known in all of theG.I. Joecanon. He first appeared in the pages of Marvel Comics as a creation of Larry Hama in 1984, via the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series. Storm Shadow quickly made his jump to the animated series that same year. The character is a member of the Japanese-American special forces and used to be friends withSnake Eyes. However, things eventually come between them and they turn into bitter rivals. It would stand to reason that Storm Shadow will be positioned as a villain in the spin-off.
Plot details are largely being kept under wraps for the movie but it’s said to be an origin story for the title character.Robert Schwentke(Red,R.I.P.D.) has been tapped to direct the movie for Paramount Pictures. This will be a co-production with Hasbro’s Allspark Pictures, which was launched recently to allow the toy company to take a more active role in bringing some of their biggest properties, such asG.I. JoeandTransformers, to the big screen. Evan Spiliotopoulos (Beauty and the Beast) penned the screenplay.
The first live-action movie in the franchise, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, was released in 2009, with Channing Tatum in the lead role. A follow-up starring Dwayne Johnson, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, was released four years later in 2013. The movies were both modest hits, bringing in a combined $678 million worldwide. But the standard for what a blockbuster franchise entry should make has changed a lot in recent years and Paramount hopes to get with the times on this one.Snake Eyesis set to arrive in theaters on July 29, 2025. This news comes to us viaThe Wrap.
