The Snake Eyes Spin-Off Won’t Star Ray Park – Here’s Why [Exclusive]
Over the weekend, producerLorenzo DiBonaventuraspoke to /Film about theTransformersspin-offBumblebee. Since DiBonaventura is also the producer of Hasbro’sG.I. Joefranchise, we asked him about the upcomingSnake Eyesspin-off film.
Announced in May, theSnake Eyesmovie found its director in Robert Schwentkejust last week. Still in question was whetherRay Park, who portrayed Snake Eyes in both live-actionG.I. Joefilms, would reprise the role.
“Probably not, because we are going to the origin story,” Di Bonaventura said. “As you know in the comic book, you saw his face. And it is, I’ll say, the formation of a hero. So you’ve got to see somebody and it can’t be Ray’s age, unfortunately.”
So there you have it. They’re going to cast a young Snake Eyes, and it will be someone who shows his face and may even talk. Park has specialized in silent, sometimes fully masked characters since he played Darth Maul inStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Even when he reprised the role in subsequent Star Wars movies, a different actor dubbed his lines.
It’s not like the G.I. Joe movies have been attached to continuity. AlthoughG.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobrawas a hit, the sequelG.I. Joe: Retaliationquickly transitioned away from Duke (Channing Tatum) to introduce Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) and Joe Colton (Bruce Willis).Risestars Marlon Wayans and Dennis Quaid didn’t even return. So a prequel/spinoff where they recast the title character wouldn’t be too big of a stretch.
G.I. Joehas also struggled more thanTransformersto find solid footing with audiences.Retaliationcame out four years afterThe Rise of Cobra, and ifSnake Eyesis ready as early as 2020, it will arrive seven years after the previous movie. With Evan Spiliotopoulos currently writing, there’s no start date or release date yet.
Bumblebeeopens on December 21 and we’ll bring you the full interview with Di Bonaventura in the week leading up to its release.
