Darth Maul Is Snake Eyes In GI Joe

Ray-Park-Snake-EyesUp to this point, the only solid casting news we’ve had concerning the upcoming GI Joe film is that Sienna Miller apparently has snagged a role (as The Baroness?) much to the displeasure of many fans. But this news could lighten up their day.

According to our friends over at Slashfilm, GI Joe has cast the fan favorite character of Snake Eyes. None other than Darth Maul himself, Ray Park.

I have just confirmed that Star Wars Episode 1 star Ray Park has been cast as Snake Eyes in Stephen Sommer’s big screen live-action adaptation of GI Joe. Snake Eyes is one of the original members of the GI Joe series. Hasbro has released over 30 figures of the character since his debut in 1982. Not much is known about the ninja master’s real identity, as it has remained classified throughout the series.

Not bad news… as long as he keeps the mask on and doesn’t have to actually act. Ray was also Toad in the first X-Men movie, and was also the Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow. I had a chance to meet and hang out just a little with Ray at Comic Con this year at a couple of parties and he was very cool to me (although word has it he fell far out of favor with folks at Star Wars). But as cool as he is, he’s not an actor… he’s a stuntman, and a damned good one… which should be totally fine for a role like Snake Eyes. Silent, masked, and doing insanely cool looking fight moves. That’s an order Ray Park can fill no problem.

Still waiting to hear who is officially going to be Duke, or Cobra Commander, or Destro… but this is decent news.

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17 thoughts on “Darth Maul Is Snake Eyes In GI Joe

  1. heh…The last two posts about Snake Eyes having a few lines and taking off the mask…well..that’s kind of hard to do since Snake Eyes had his vocal cords burnt to a crisp along with his face in a helicopter accident on his first mission with the Joes.

    I just hope they keep true with Destro. I found the whole Scottish lord and arms dealer back story to be kinda’ neat.

    All in all, good news. I’m starting to have some hope for this movie.

  2. I’m all for this. Even if he gets a few lines and takes his mask off. I don’t think he’s a terrible actor and may do a decent job. One thing he’ll shine at are the action/ fighting scenes.

    I wonder who will play Storm Shadom….

  3. Snake Eyes could have the mask on or off, SE could have a few lines here and there. But this sort of casting is right on. Ray Park has a decent fanbase, not sure why he’s on the outs with Star Wars, but it seems after being the (ahem) best actor out of Ecks vs Sever, his action star film career stalled for a good six to seven years. As much as I was looking forward to it, I think Iron Fist is dead as far a film is concerned. Maybe one day…

    Here is one area where I disagree with John. I think for awhile shortly after the success of X-Men, there was a slight push for Ray Park to become a B- film action star. I don’t have any problem with “action stars” being leads in action films. Not one.
    Chuck Norris is a good example of this. Jackie Chan, who also started out as a stuntman , is another. By Campea’s measuring stick, I would have to had a problem with the Governator once being Conan, Commando, the Second Terminator (the first Terminator could be excused, he kept his mouth shut most of the time) and Total Recall.

  4. consider me happy. u like this news, the guy is a solid stuntman/martial artist and if they keep snake eyes mask its all good. as long as they dont turn him into a generic ninja im happy. destro should be a random actor with the silver mask and a strong black man to the voice…

  5. I just don’t think you’re going to get Cobra Commander or Destro the way we know them, certainly not played by a high profile actor. You’re asking an actor to stay hidden behind a chrome mask the entire screentime, to the point where they’ll be lucky if their eyes are visible.

  6. Man everytime you hear news of an actor from the Starwars prequels there is always a comment soon to follow. I like Ray Park as Darth Maul and i liked Darth Maul alot (better than Dooku) But forget that. Him as Snake Eyes is fine by me as long as he has no lines and keeps the mask on with all the mystery intact this character is worth the price of admittion alone. Good News indeed.

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