There have been three live-action G.I. Joe movies this far, and each one has had a different character in the lead. Channing Tatum played First Sergeant Duke in The Rise of Cobra, but after Tatum wanted out of the franchise, Retaliation brought in Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock to take over, after sidelining Duke in the story. Snake Eyes was a prequel/reboot based on the black-clad, silent commando previously played by Ray Park, recast with Henry Golding. Fans of the action figures know that the actual leader of G.I. Joe is General Hawk, portrayed as a desktop General by Dennis Quaid in The Rise of Cobra.
The new reboot, unconnected to the prior films and directed and co-written by Danny McBride, is reportedly taking its cues from the Sunbow animated series, which is the version most adult fans of G.I. Joe are familiar with. In it, Duke, real name Conrad Hauser, is consistently portrayed as the leader of the good guys in their battle against the global terrorist organization Cobra. Now it looks like we know who’ll play him onscreen this go-around. As reported by Deadline, Bradley Cooper will be playing Duke and was reportedly top of McBride’s wishlist.
Considering Bradley Cooper’s prior military roles in the likes of The A-Team and American Sniper, he’d seem a good fit. Cooper is of course best known to Marvel fans as the wise-cracking voice of Rocket Raccoon; Duke isn’t that kind of smartass, but he’s just as handy with a gun. What’s interesting here is how this matches what we already think we know about McBride’s script, and its focus. He previously said he was inspired by the animated series two-parter “There’s No Place Like Springfield,” itself based on the Marvel Comics storyline “A Nice Little Town Like Ours.”
In that storyline, inspired by the UK TV show The Prisoner (itself rumored to get a movie remake eventually), Cobra creates an entirely fake ideal small town, into which one of the Joe team awakens, believing the war to be over. It turns out, of course, to be an elaborate interrogation trap. What’s interesting, though, is that in the cartoon, the plot centers not on Duke, but Shipwreck, a stereotypical sailor type with a parrot on his shoulder. McBride says his story will follow “Duke and a group of other Joes,” but considering the original story, it’s possible Cooper’s role won’t be a full-on lead here. Today’s casting report notes that he does have a busy schedule, but he cleared some room for it — if the story is indeed Shipwreck-centric, it could sideline Duke for most of the second act.
Whatever the case, Cooper seems a better fit for the role than Channing Tatum was. Duke has more gravitas and experience, typically; Tatum played a younger, more reckless guy who didn’t seem much like the cartoon version. With this key bit of casting out of the way, it’s time to imagine who could play Shipwreck, who hasn’t been a principal character in any of the movies so far; Cooper’s old A-Team partner Sharlto Copley certainly wouldn’t be a bad choice. For their arch-enemy Cobra Commander, the best hope is an actor who doesn’t care if their face is never shown; perhaps a gifted mime like David Howard Thornton. Steve Buscemi did a great imitation of original Cobra Commander/Starscream voice actor Chris Latta in Transformers One, so looping his voice over someone who just does the physicality would be a nifty in-joke for fans.
Who would you like to see join Cooper on Joe duty? Sound off like you got a pair (of suggestions, natch) in the comments.
