‘Snake Eyes’ Movie Begins Production in Japan (Pics and Video)

January 10, 2020 Victor Medina

A press conference was held Friday morning at the Hie-Jinja Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, to announce the start of production on Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, a stand-alone adventure featuring the popular and mysterious G.I. Joe Commando. Photos and video are included below.

In attendance at the event were Henry Golding (Snake Eyes), Andrew Koji (Storm Shadow), Haruka Abe (Akiko), Iko Uwais (Hard Master), Takehiro Hira (Kenta), Director Robert Schwentke, Executive Producers Jeff Waxman and Erik Howsam and Stunt Coordinator Kenji Tanigaki.

Exec. Producer Jeff Waxman, Stunt Coord. Kenji Tanigaki, Takehiro Hira (Kenta), Haruka Abe (Akiko), Henry Golding (Snake Eyes), Andrew Koji (Storm Shadow), Director Robert Schwentke, Exec. Producer Erik Howsam

During the press conference, Golding said “it’s an absolute honor to play such an iconic character. He’s probably one of the most recognizable characters ever created.”

He also said not being able to see Snake Eyes’ face in the comics or the cartoons meant we were “missing something” in the character. The movie, he says, will change that.

“Snake Eyes was always seen as a weapon, as almost an inanimate object,” he said. “When you get to see someone’s eyes, you get to see their past, you get to see their future. You get to see the personality behind that.”

Snake Eyes will be a reboot of the recent live-action G.I. Joe films that starred Channing Tatum, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Bruce Willis. Those films were criticized by Joe fans for bearing little resemblance to the 1980s “Real American Hero” incarnation it was based on.

However, those same fans are taking issue with the new Snake Eyes film. In the 1980s comic books, cartoons, and toys, Snake Eyes was a white Vietnam veteran who learned the ways of the Ninja with a young Storm Shadow, only to see the two join opposite forces (Storm Shadow was the ninja for the terrorist group Cobra).

Recasting Snake Eyes as Asian undermines the original character’s history and hero’s journey, those fans say. The character will still go on to join G.I. Joe, but it is unclear if, like his 1980s incarnation, the commando/ninja will suffer an accident that disfigures him and leaves him mute.