Moviefone interviews Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson about G.I. Joe: Retaliation

by generalsjoes | Feb 15, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe: The Movie

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.