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G.I. Joe's Cobra Commander Will Be More Menacing and Twisted

by Alex Billington
September 6, 2008
Source: MTV

In the midst of the fall movie season kicking off, we seem to have forgotten entirely about the upcoming G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra movie. Alas, MTV has delivered a reminder for us by way of Cobra Commander... or at least some early details on the character. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura provided some enticing new details on what we can expect for the character that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be playing. "As we see it, he's a very twisted character. As the backstory evolves, you discover why his personality [is like that]." The key to character lies in his past and we'll be seeing all of it. That Cobra Commander you might remember from the TV show might not exactly be the one we'll see on screen.

Di Bonaventura, who is a very fan-connected producer, does a great job of referencing one of the finer elements of The Dark Knight. "I thought what was great in The Dark Knight was that Heath kept telling you different stories [about his past] so you never knew what it was, and they were all spooky and crazy. [In our film] you get to see it, and you get to understand what's happened to this guy." Given the film is actually titled Rise of Cobra, I'm admittedly quite excited to see how his story develops, especially with the quite talented Gordon-Levitt in the role. We can't forget the Cobra Commander from the TV show (as seen above), but di Bonaventura has made sure that the version in the film will be quite unique.

"We'll see Cobra Commander in the Cobra mask [but] it will not be like the show. I found some of the [mask] aspects a little KKK for me, so we tried to steer away from that image. We thought that might be a little much." And as for his voice as well, "[Gordon-Levitt] definitely has a take-off on that. I actually found the voice a little weak in the show... I'm sure I'll get killed for saying that. I don't know, it always seemed kind of silly. Hopefully we're going to be a little more menacing." All of this sounds good, but at this point I'm a bit tired of hearing about all these G.I. Joe details - I'm anxious to see a trailer. Hopefully it won't be much longer until we get our first actual glimpse at footage. Maybe seeing a trailer will change the minds of naysayers? Does a darker Cobra Commander sound like a good choice?

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Related categories: Hype, Movie News

L

Quote- "We'll see Cobra Commander in the Cobra mask [but] it will not be like the show. I found some of the [mask] aspects a little KKK for me, so we tried to steer away from that image. Already talking horrible liberties with the character. If they don't like the hood, then they need to use the helmet/mask combo. Quite frankly though, if any type of hood reminds you of a Klan hood, you have some serious PC issues. This movie was already dead in the water by showing Destro w/o a metal head, and casting Damon Wayens
JL

This is the first news I've heard about this movie. Will this be live-action?
http://firstshowing.net richie

well its half a year away so let"s hope the best comes out but, i think this movie will win an award!!!
Darrin

isn't Lorenzo di Bonaventura producing transformers as well.
TigerClaw

Cobra Commander on the TV show was voiced by the late Chris Latta, And the voice of Starscream in the Transformers TV show as well. Hopefully he will do some sort of Chris Latta style voice without sounding corny and cheesy.
Darunia

Does Stephen Summers have what it takes? I personally think this movie is going to be absolute crap because of who's directing.
The Delightful Deviant

sounds horrible, when directors get ideas we get Kristen Dunst as Mary Jane,we get a white Piccolo and we get Resident Evil: Apocalypse/ Extinction.
Scotty B.

As far as the characterizations go, I'm hoping that they borrow heavily from the Marvel Comics series. The nature of what Cobra was, and how enticing the organization was to everyday citizens, hiding in plain sight, is so much more genuinely sinister than the OTT world-domination antics seen in the cartoon. This article gives me some hope that this might be a possibility; if it is, I might actually have something to look forward to!
Cyrus the Virus

the picture looks like it is just concept art. I'd heard about it being live action but that sounds weird to me. im looking foreward to seeing how this movie ends up and if they go for the pg-13 rating or pg
http://handfulofwires.blogspot.com DCompose

Why can't the hood look KKK? Guy's a villain. His dick should be swastika and his left hand should be a photo of a dead baby.
JoeJoe

They have got almost everything wrong in my eyes. 1. Destro is a skinny English actor. 2. Damon Wayens. 3. No hood on CC? Thats how it all starts. He wore a hood. Don't fix what's not broken. 4. Those stupid battle suits. 5. SS seems kinda short. 6. I have already read about love triangles and shit. Please leave with for a Barbie movie. 7. No Crimson Twins or Doctor Mindbendor? 8. The GI Joe logo looks bad. 9. No Dreadknocks 10. Damon Wayens. How could the screw up almost everything?
Cody

^^^^^^^ HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA so true
http://firstshowing.net Andy Adair

I can't be skeptical about this until I have at least a preview. Right now its all photos and rumors. And while i do agree with everyone on their distaste for Damon Wayens, I will give him a shot. Until he f's it up, I won't say he is bad for the part.
JNYCE

its actually MARLON WAYANS....sorry not Damon Wayans...but they all do look alike those brothers
malax

Seeing the characters in a outfit that isnt similar to outfit in the series, wont be a problem for me.(look at wolverine and the x-men, they deliverded) i hope the acting and the action will be good.
ChrisC

this movie should be alright if they treat it like transformers , it is 2008 now an they need to make it for this time , as long as its not like street fighter the movie i'd be happy.
big r

I am more excited for this movie now than i was before. When i first got word this was coming out i was a little skeptical, now i think i will give this movie a chance. I mean let us at least wait for a trailer people. I like how The Dark Knight is used a reference in so many movies now, it is crazy how that movie raised the bar, but that is a whole other story. I am being a hypocrite by saying to wait for a trailer before bashing, because i am not even giving dragonball a chance. But what this producer/director is trying to accomplish with cobra seems like a good idea. I think it will be good.
Diego

There we go again..... another director referring to The Dark Knight to try to make their film sound somewhat decent. I agree that TDK has raised the bar in movies, but they're over doing it with always going back to that in order to compare their new films.
Djo

The absolute death of this movie will be if it takes itself WAY too seriously. Cobra Commander was always the butt end of every joke, at the end of every episode, and his ridiculous voice only compounded that hilarity. Make him darker, more serious, fine. Just give us a shot of him riding off on a mule after all his plans fail and please - make him whine. I think Joey Gordon Levitt's capable of ALL these things. Except perhaps the mule-riding, which they can use a 'stunt Commander' for.
atg2040

I'm pretty sure this movie is going to be horrible... Marlon Wayans has no place in a movie like this, and the second i saw him i was instantly disturbed. the only thing still giving me hope is the casting of Ray Park for Snake Eyes. Hopefully his battles with Storm Shadow will be worth going to see this movie.
hulk

yeah this going to be horrible. "I have an idea, lets make a movie based on a concept loved by so many people for the past 25 years but let's not make it anything like what it is suppose to be!!" Freakin morons in charge of this shit.
atgeeks

this will suck hands down, fucking hollywood, leave the classics from my childhood alone
Ken Masters

Menacing and twisted Cobra Commander? Sounds like a Dark Knight rip=off to me.
Mo Sparx

The hood reminds him of the KKK? Someone wasn't hugged enough as a child! I'm with everyone else, keep the hood and introduce the mask later on. It'd just add to the growth of the character. I love the idea of a dark and twisted Cobra Commander... then we can have a SICK and evil Serpentor. Now there's a great Cobra. As for Destro... Skinny and no metal?? Just save us the misery and cut him out of the movie. Marlon Wayans might actually be able to pull off a role like this. So many actors have surprised us in the past by tackling roles we could never see them in and totally nailing it. But how good can he be in one of those ridiculous clown outfit suits? Ken, the Dark Knight team just did what no other movie team dared to do and that was take the character to its roots, explore the depth of every aspect, and then base the structure on a solid foundation. That's why it was so successful. Take Superman for example, you can't have a dark Superman character because, in essence, he's got this innocence about him but you can take Lex Luthor and make him dark. Every turn in society, Lex has been re-invented from an evil scientist to a greedy business man. Just because a movie is dark does not mean it's a TDK ripoff. Copying the "dark" aspect would most likely result in failure but copying the way the characters and stories were built would make a movie a success while retaining it's uniqueness. I say dump the love triangle garbage, dump the ridiculous suits, stay true to the characters and at least introduce the dreads, Dr. Mindbender etc. Since this is "The Rise of Cobra" they don't need huge roles but at least an few scenes.
bozoconnors

"a little KKK for me"?!?! It was in the cartoon for fucks sake! Lorenzo... buddy... don't destroy/distort our childhood memories.
big r

I just did a review of the old characters from the show, to compare with the pics that we have seen so far of the characters in the upcoming movie. I dont know why i did not do it before, but i see what everyones gripe is with destro... just horrible.
Denver

I wonder if they'll put together some PSA's to run during the credits.
jmoney

If darker & more menacing could work for the JOKER, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt Cobra Commander.... Let's just hope it's not a really good "Heath" impersonation.
AndrU

Lorenzo, you suck, who are you? what do you know about GIJOE?, are you the joker? because this don't make my smile, you suck, you f***ing hollywood rich boy, you don't have any clue about nothing, only the need to make money from "tv-childhood-shows", you f***' up the whole movie. I really hate rich producers who don't care where they put their money, come on people! wake up from that shi*ty dream, make good movies, hollywood sucks. Thanks for reading...
AndrU

"I found some of the [mask] aspects a little KKK for me", do you have issues with a HOOD?, come on!, you have to be joking, please GROW UP!, and do it fast!. PS: I can't believe they only make brainless-movie-crap!.
mista dude

werent people trippin like this with transformers? Outside of some leaked pix we have nothing to base his movie off. Let's wait for the trailer before we collectively write this one off.
Thedude254

For Fuck's Sake, People! Their not destroying or distorting your fuckin childhood memories! If you don't like what hear then don't fuckin watch it. Why don't you let kids now make their own childhood memories or let them get turned on to the old joe through this. Come on, stop getting so scared by change.
Wraith

Its not that people are scared of change. It's that we, as loyal fans throughout the years, are excited to finally have a live action movie, that we have asked for years for. Now when we get it, they jack it up by saying the Commander's hood "reminds him of the KKK". But he was spot on about the voice in the cartoon and it fit well when we all found out he was a reptile from Cobra-La. LOL We all remember that crap story line. Larry Hama did a great job in the Marvel series telling the story in a real world environment. In that sense, I think a dark Cobra Commander is exactly what we need. We talking about a ruthless maniac that wants to take over the world.
Nuff Said

Mista dude hit it right on the money. People were tripping just like this before Transformers dropped and the movie ended up great! Which means give it a chance. What worked in a comic book or cartoon does not always work in live action film. As far as for making Cobra Commander darker i think that it will be a neccesity based off of the success and the transcendence of this type of genre film. Before The Dark Knight, these heroes and villains strories were being directed with PG13 mindset. The Dark Knight combined everything we liked about Jack Nicholson portrayal of the Joker with the disturbing and fear injecting character of Hannibal Lector. This genre of film has changed not only in the writing and directing but in terms of its target audience as well. Alot of people who wouldnt neccesarily go see a "comic book movie" went to see The Dark Knight because of the acting and the dark story. So you can expect the same from this genre film from now on. Good thing too, there is nothing to say that they cannot reinvent Lex Luthor, more Hannibalish. Just my thoughts. see you at the movies.....
Omegawrath

Okay, a couple of things. I know I'm late to the discussion, but I have to speak up. First of all, DiBonaventura is about the LEAST fan-connected producer in Hollywood. He's often referred to as DiBatnipples because of his involvement in Batman and Robin. Who thought that was a good movie? Second, CC is one of the few characters of the last few decades to have a turly unique and original appearance. A kkk guy has a pointy pillow case with two eye holes. CC has both the awesome mirror-mask and a blue mask with a Cobra symbol on it that reveals his eyes and eyebrows and rests flat against his skull. It worked in Comics, Video games, children's television and action figures for 26 years now, but DiBonaventura knows better, right? And for those of you who thought Transformers was totally awesome, I just don't know if I can explain it to you. It was good to see it happen but that movie, in retrospect, was mostly lame. Anyone who disagrees with me, I challenge you to count how many times Shia says "no". Or to explain why Prime ran right past a falling helicopter, or a thousand other continuity glitches, unnecessary human characters and non-speaking, no-name Decepticons there were. DiBonaventura is the BANE of the fandom. Alex Billington has phoned in an unresearched interview with a hack, carefully tickling his balls the whole time. This is exactly the type of soulless, vapid, idiotic hype that I've come to expect from MTV and their hard-hitting team of crack "journalists." Cobra Commander was written in the comics as a modern day American Hitler without the aspirations of ethnic cleansing. He was a business owner and used car salesman who became disenfranchised and, through charisma, took over a US city and began his own organization bent on attaining power. This Cobra Commander is the Baroness' brother. He was a good-guy medic who got disfigured and left for dead and now he plays with nano-mites and has a mask that looks nothing like Cobra Commander. Remember kiddies, the same producer that thinks Megatron is a flying blender that transforms into Sauron and that Bumblebee is a voiceless mechanical baby with a pacifier and Furby eyes is hard at work stripping G.I. Joe of it's essence. Enjoy the show, sheep.
Kreaden

Okay first off this movie sounds like it may be pretty good. Second, I think Destro not having the metal mask is cool seeing as in the cartoon he is even heard to say that the metal mask is a tradition in his family they were when in battle. Plus this is Rise of Cobra so maybe he gets "F'd" up and he ends up wearing the mask all the time. Third, I have long since come to the realization that any movie based off of a cartoon series is not going to be like the cartoon series. If you go into it thinking, "Oh this will be like the cartoon" and then see that they rewrote the story you will be very let down. So just sit back and give the movie a chance. The GI Joe universe is one that has had many takes on it; the universe of the cartoon compared to the comic series is not the same.
JaxMan

Destro will have a mask.. =0)
cc

Hood bule not White stop being such PC morons,,,,,
Bloodfive

Cobra Commander looks like a cross between Bubble boy and Krang from TMNT. Really creative Bonerventure, why don't you disfigure the evil archetype guys face and then put a clear mask on him for everyone to see that he is a burn victim, I mean monster. I actually feel sorry for CC now. The only thing dumber than saying a hood equals KKK is saying that burn victims are evil. Somebody should sue this prick, and he actually thinks that he is taking the high road. In exactly 0% of any kind of mythology does the bad guy where a clear mask. The whole concept of a mask is loaded with ancient symbolism and references, when it is see-through the storytelling vehicle is lost completely. At least we wont have to wait till summer for him to take the gimmick off.
binkx

I'm a bit skeptical of the whole thing growing up with GI Joe and being a kid collector of just about every toy that came out at the time. Hell I even kept up with the cut out bios on the back of the packages when I was a kid. I understand that they feel the need to bring it into more now but enhancement suits not too sure about that. I still loved the firefights of laser guns that hit nothing but air and ejection of pilots when the planes went down. I know that a bit more serious is what they are trying for and I defiantly agree that "The Dark Knight" raised the bar but if cobra commander isn't where a hood of some kind and a hiss when he speaks I will not be too happy about a change that is essential to his character.