If you’re going to reboot G.I. Joe, you might as well start with the coolest character. After 2009’s The Rise Of Cobra and 2013’s Retaliation, Snake Eyes jump-starts a new cinematic timeline with an origin story for the Boba Fett of the Joe-verse – the iconic ninja commando who had the best action figures and the worst parts in all the movies.
Famously scarred, masked and silent, Snake Eyes steps out of the shadows for his own spin-off as Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians, Last Christmas) leaves the trademark black helmet off to give us a new speaking assassin with a revenge-filled backstory that ties into the comic-book history of the Arashikage ninja clan.
“I was in two minds for sure,” Golding tells Total Film magazine for the new issue. “It’s not a role to take lightly. This is G.I. Joe’s greatest-ever character. To be given the chance to revisit this character through a really fresh lens is a huge responsibility. In other G.I. Joe movies, Snake Eyes has always been shrouded in mystery, so it’s nice to be able to set it all out in stone.”
Directed by Robert Schwentke (Red, the Divergent series), the movie shot on location in Japan to draw more inspiration from classic samurai films than from Hollywood actioners – hoping to birth a whole new super-franchise without looking or feeling anything like one. Above, we have an exclusive new look at Snake Eyes.
Snake Eyes arrives in US cinemas on 23 July and UK cinemas on 20 August. For more on the film, check out the latest issue of Total Film – fronted by Loki – when it hits shelves and digital newsstands from Friday, May 28
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