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G.I. Joe Updates: Brendan Fraser and Dwayne Johnson Cameos?

by Kevin Powers
April 3, 2008
Source: Latino Review, MTV

G.I. Joe is shaping up to be a pretty cool project judging from some of the casting choices. From Dennis Quaid starring as General Hawk to Channing Tatum as Duke to Joseph Gordon Levitt as Cobra Commander, director Stephen Sommers is amassing quite a nice crew. And those photos we brought you of Ray Park as Snake Eyes were just jaw-dropping awesome. However, not all choices are as exciting - Marlon Wayans as Ripcord, for instance. Eh? Now Latino Review claims that Brendan Fraser and Dwayne Johnson might join the roster through cameos as well. While Johnson is definitely pretty cool, Fraser seems a might lame.

Photo courtesy of the gurus at SlashFilm.

The star of the Mummy series, Brendan Fraser reportedly will appear as Gung Ho, the Cajun marine gunnery sergeant. Even though I don't imagine G.I. Joe is going to be rich, dramatic cinema, I've always thought Fraser was pretty flat - so I'm glad his screen time is minimal. But can you imagine him sporting the military vest with the trademark Marine Corps emblem tattooed across his chest? If I had to guess, I suspect Fraser's outfit will be a bit less revealing.

Photo courtesy of the gurus at SlashFilm.

One guy who has the clout to go shirtless all day long, however, is The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson). Now this is a guy I can get on board with. Granted, his emotional range is really no deeper than Fraser's, but I find him a lot more enjoyable. Apparently, Johnson has been offered the role of a sailor by the name of Hector Delgado, aka Shipwreck.

Even though it's not all great news, it nevertheless still seems like an exciting project. Not on par with Transformers, I think, but in the neighborhood. Transformers, after all, was the other Hasbro toy-turned-movie project, which surely played a part in getting G.I. Joe greenlit. Earning a monstrous $700+ million worldwide, Transformers certainly proved that a childhood toy line could be turned into a big-screen success. For me, I absolutely loved the film and its scale, and certainly have hope that G.I. Joe can turn into a similarly awesome - in the words of Michael Bay! - blockbuster production.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander is the top character I'm looking forward to seeing, next to Ray Park as Snake Eyes, so all this other casting news is bit less important to me. Levitt spoke with MTV today about his role as the raspy-voiced leader of the COBRA organization. Apparently he's nailing down the voice - "I've got a good voice, man" - and the mask quite nicely. He also reinforces the idea that Joe is not meant to be a serious, or even serious-adjacent, war movie. "G.I. Joe is fun... It's like going to the circus or getting on a roller coaster... it has nothing to do with reality at all."

Do Fraser and Johnson help the project? Or does the film even hinge on a handful of questionable cast members?

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Related categories: Casting, Hype, Movie News, Rumors