Snake Eyes, G.I. Joe’s Ninja Warrior, Gets His Own Movie

Back in the 1980s, G.I. Joe shrunk from 12 inches tall down to 3.75 inches and moved from being a military action figure to leader of a band of comic-book heroes fighting the Cobra terrorist organization. It’s the short guys who’ve inspired the 21st-century revivals, and we’re getting another movie this summer.

“Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins” is a G.I. Joe movie without any G.I.s or anyone named Joe. Snake Eyes is the good-guy ninja assassin who’s a member of the G.I. Joe Team in the Marvel comics series, and his movie tells us his life story from the days before he met G.I. Joe.

The movie is set to be released in theaters on July 23, and Paramount Pictures has just released a new trailer.

If you’re deep into G.I. Joe lore, you already know that Snake Eyes has a “brother” named Storm Shadow. Sometimes he’s a bad guy who’s fighting with Cobra, and sometimes he switches sides and fights alongside his brother on the G.I. Joe Team.

The movie digs into the brothers’ relationship and how they learned those wicked fighting skills. Henry Golding (“Crazy Rich Asians”) plays Snake Eyes and Andrew Koji (HBO Max series “Warrior”) is Storm Shadow. Indonesian martial arts star Iko Uwais is featured as Hard Master.

The trailer suggests that German director Robert Schwentke, best known for the old spies action comedy “RED” and a pair of movies in the “Divergent” series, gives “Snake Eyes” an energy and style lacking from the previous G.I. Joe movies “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.”

Of course, the military training for these boys is ninja training instead of spec ops training. If “Snake Eyes” finds an audience and lures moviegoers back to the theaters this summer, we’ll get more “G.I. Joe Origins” films and perhaps get to see Joe as a boot before the decade is over.

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