for a G.I. Joe movie got the green light from Paramount, which already had fans excited. Fans got even more hyped when it was reported that Chris Hemsworth was attached to star in the project. Unfortunately, there’s some bad news on that front, as Hemsworth has reportedly exited the project, but there is a silver lining, as the report has also revealed that one of Hemsworth’s fellow MCU stars may be taking his place
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According to a report from Nexus Point News, Hemsworth has exited the new G.I. Joe film, though it’s not known why. While that’s unfortunate news, the report also states that the film is now eyeing Guardians of the Galaxy actor Bradley Cooper to take over the lead role in the film. As for what that role would be, given what McBride has shared so far about the movie, Cooper would likely be playing the role of G.I. Joe leader Duke
The New G.I. Joe Film Is Building Around Duke
Outside of the fact that McBride developed the pitch for the new film, not much was known about the project, at least until recently. McBride revealed some welcome additional details about the film in a new interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, including how the film is building around Duke and pulls some elements from the original show. McBride also noted that the project is not a comedic take on the franchise
“Weirdly, it grounds G.I. Joe; it’s not a comedy. It’s kind of suspense and action, and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” McBride said. “You’re following Duke and a group of other Joes… There’s that town in the comic, Springfield, which is a town that’s secretly all Cobra, and so that is where our film takes place.”
In the cartoon, the town of Springfield seemed to be a relatively normal and uninteresting town to the outside world, but it was actually a front for a Cobra base. The town was completely made up of Cobra operatives, which is why they decided to take a captured Shipwreck there and interrogate him when they were trying to learn a secret formula. At first, though he doesn’t realize he’s been captured, as his memory is missing, but the truth is revealed over time. This all took place in the two-part episode There’s No Place Like Springfield.
As for Duke, the character seems to be modeled more after the comics version of the character, who is a fixture of the new Energon Universe. While the fantastical nature of the G.I. Joe universe is very much intact in the comics, the character of Duke specifically is one of the more grounded characters in the series, and the books have brought a lot of depth to him as well. Having someone like Cooper playing that role would bring those layered elements to life on the big screen, so hopefully that ends up being true.
The G.I. Joe movie currently has no release date
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