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More G.I. Joe Casting: Storm Shadow and Scarlett
by Alex Billington
December 19, 2007
Casting is really coming together well on G.I. Joe, and it sounds like this could be the next Transformers - another 80's franchise reinvigorated into a huge summer blockbuster. A couple of weeks ago we reported that Ray Park had been cast as ninja master Snake Eyes. Yesterday, Latino Review reported that Korean actor Byung-hun Lee had been cast as Storm Shadow, Snake Eye's brother and rival, and also that Rachel Nichols was cast as female G.I. Joe Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara. That's four primary G.I. Joe characters down, so who else is left?
Storm Shadow's (played by Byung-hun Lee) real name is Thomas S. Arashikage. Best known as the Cobra Commander's ninja bodyguard and assassin at times, he is the only member of the team to change sides several times, conflicted in loyalties between Cobra, G.I. Joe and his long relationship with his swordbrother Snake Eyes (played by Ray Park in the upcoming film). He usually wears a white uniform and mask. (For more details, head to Wikipedia.)
Scarlett (played by Rachel Nichols) is one of the main characters in the G.I. Joe series. Although she is as adept with standard weapons as any of her comrades, her weapon of choice is the crossbow which fires various bolts with specialized functions. Her rank is Master Sergeant, and she serves from time to time as team leader. Her primary specialty for the team is counter intelligence and is additionally skilled in martial arts and acrobatics. (For more details, head to Wikipedia.)
These two characters join alongside of Ray Park as Snake Eyes and Sienna Miller as a currently unannounced character. I'm getting the distinct feeling that this is turning into the fanboy movie-to-see for 2009 that will be as big of a hit (if not bigger) than Transformers from this year. We're 20 months out and it's already got excessive buzz just on casting alone. Another interesting thing to note is that if everything goes as planned, Transformers 2 could be done by 2009 as well - meaning we'll see two huge 80's franchises colliding that year.
From the Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite co-ed GI JOE team, based from itโs headquarters The Pit, deploys the latest in next-gen spy and military equipment to fight crooked arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious COBRA organization from plunging the world into chaos.
G.I. Joe is directed by Stephen Sommers (Deep Rising, The Mummy, Van Helsing) and written by both Stuart Beattie and Skip Woods. The movie arrives in theaters on August 7th, 2009.
Reader Feedback - 6 Comments
1
Not bad. Although i always pictured scarlett a little older.
Heckle on Dec 19, 2007
2
THat's funny you mention that- I always pictured GI Joe fans as being a little younger. ๐
Djoser on Mar 21, 2008
3
Storm Shadow was an american
araknis69 on Apr 20, 2008
4
Asians can be from America too, bozo And last I recall, Storm Shadow was always Asian.
Cessate on Jun 4, 2008
5
Storm Shadow is Japanese NOT Asian american. Snake eyes is an American adopted by the same clan as Storm Shadow. The rivalry between the two (or at least for Storm Shadow ) began when they were young teens when their sensei saw that Snake eyes was adapting to the training faster than Storm Shadow was.
Uber Storm Shadow fan on Jun 15, 2008
6
Hey Storm Shadow fan! You're partially right, but Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow didn't grow up together, so they weren't "young teens" when their rivalry began. It was only after they had served together for some time in the army, when Storm Shadow invited Snake Eyes to come live with him for awhile and participate in the "family business" so to speak, which happened to be training Ninjas.
Uber Snake Eyes Fan on Aug 20, 2008
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