That’s been a bone of contention among fans for quite a while now…just how threatening IS Cobra Commander? If you can get past his numerous bodyguards, mercenaries, ninjas, and leather clad females, is he ripe for the taking? So far, the answer has really been “yes”. Sure, he had his trusty battle armor in 1987, but you figure anyone who needs layers of titanium and kevlar to fight back just might be a bit of a wuss.
Well, that may not be the case in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Cobra Commander just might be a mastermind, and a powerhouse. MTV spoke with Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson, who referenced “Cobra” a few times during the interview. Of course, it’s uncertain whether he was talking about Cobra Commander specifically, or more likely Cobra themselves as a whole. Check out that interview here, or embedded below.
Along with The Rock, MTV also interviewed Jon Chu, who had several things to say about reinventing Cobra Commander. It sounds like the production team behind the G.I. Joe sequel certainly understands the importance of a well done Cobra Commander to the franchise and chose to essentially rebuild the character from scratch. It certainly sounds like they’ve got some interesting ideas with his voice, too.. check it out right here, or embedded below.
This has come out online as a “new” G.I. Joe: Retaliation trailer, and technically it is…but it appears to be pretty much the same as the French trailer we saw a little while ago, just without the pesky subtitles, and in a bit better quality.
I gotta tell you, the highlight of my day over the past few days has been when Moviefone posts their latest interview. Mike Ryan has some nerd credibility and is asking all the right questions, though this time he puts a narrow focus on The Rock and Roadblock.
Many Joe fans have been curious as to whether or not they would pay homage to Roadblock’s rhyming talents in the G.I. Joe: Retaliation film, and I even hypothosized that perhaps the Jay-Z line was one of those homages…and it sounds like that might have been right on the money:
“Roadblock in the Larry Hama comic book is a lot different than Roadblock in the cartoon who rhymed everything. Did you ever say, “I’m not doing this if I’m rhyming the entire movie.”
[Laughs] Well, there was no conversation that he should be rhyming the entire movie. But what was important was to pay homage to the character — in terms of his look, in terms of his culinary skills…
Yes, he is a chef…
And in terms for his love and passion for poetry — but not necessarily rhyming. It’s my interpretation that he loved poetry. Look, we opened up the Super Bowl spot with him quoting Jay-Z — and that’s Roadblock’s interpretation of wonderful poetry. So there are a lot of components that we paid homage to. He was not rhyming for the entire movie. Nor does he give body massages…”
So not only does The Rock know his Roadblock history, but sounds like he’s a fan of the Fensler Films as well.
Another sticking point for the fandom post Toy Fair were the Arashikage tattoos that were visible on various toys throughout the showroom. Well, Mike Ryan read our minds and brought that up as well.
“Last thing, I noticed the Roadblock action figure has the Arashikage tattoo that Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow have. So Roadblock is a member now?
One of the cool things is our backstory — and we cover this in the film — that Roadblock trains with Snake Eyes and the Arashikage. So, he has that ability, which has yet to be seen — but we will see it.”
I will confirm that yes, during the Toy Fair presentation, Hasbro reps mentioned Roadblock’s training with Snake Eyes…but to become a full fledged member of the Arashikage? I don’t know about that one. We’ll see how that turns out. Once again, hit up Moviefone to read the full interview, lots of great stuff. More kudos to Mike Ryan for asking the good questions.
If you’re anything like me, you’re absolutely itching to get invested in the G.I. Joe: Retaliation universe. With so many questions left open from the Rise of Cobra, and such an excitement surrounding this new universe, I for one cannot wait to read more about it.
Well, IDW has come through, as they usually do, with a movie prequel mini-series! The first issue just hit, and you can click the Read The Rest of the Story link below for the full review.
Keeping up the frenetic pace from yesterday, CinemaBlend has posted a pair of video interviews with G.I. Joe: Retaliation producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura and director Jon M Chu. In these interviews we learn that Storm Shadow has a much more of an excessive role in the film, and DiBonaventura emphasizes once again that Retaliation is not a reboot, but an evolution of the brand.
Yesterday nerdy writer for the Huffington Post Mike Ryan posted a sufficiently nerdy interview with Jon Chu, revealing some never before revealed details behind the bad guys in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. On Twitter yesterday, he promised me that he would follow up with producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, and he has delivered!
“I know Joseph Gordon-Levitt is not in this movie. But is the Cobra Commander in this movie the same character we saw in the first movie?
No.
So it’s a different guy? Different guy.
So someone else took over? Someone else took over, yes.”
Certainly a clear indication that somebody else is now wearing the Commander’s trademark mirrored mask. Of course, being the bonafide G.I. Joe fan that he is, Ryan also tried to get more details on the whole Destro situation.
“For the new film, was there any thought of bringing back Destro. He’s a popular character. Even if Christopher Eccleston didn’t want to come back, it wouldn’t matter now that he has the mask, right?
Umm [smiles]…
You’re smiling. There’s something going on. Yeah, there is. But, Destro, you’ll see Destro again. You’ll see Destro again. For sure. If not in this one, perhaps in another one. You’ll see.”
So perhaps we won’t see him in Retaliation, but it’s obvious that there are some clear plans in place for Destro within the franchise. That’s good news. There are plenty of other great questions and insight throughout this follow up interview, so definitely hit up Moviefone to check out the full interview. It really is great.
I’ve gotta thank Mr. Ryan for getting to the bottom of some of this stuff. After seeing press butcher actor names and actually call the film “G.I. Joe: Retribution” today, this was a refreshingly accurate and educated interview. Check it out!
