More horrible G.I. joe news for my international friends this morning! Marlon Wayans has been cast as Ripcord in the upcoming G.I. Joe movie. We get the scoop thanks to our friends at ropeofsilicon:
Variety has just announced that Marlon Wayans actually is going to be in G.I. Joe as specualted earlier by Black Film, just not as Heavy Duty. Instead, Wayans will be playing Ripcord, a HALO jumper for the military unit, which stands for “High Altitude Low Opening”. Basically he is part of the Airborne Infantry. In other Joe news it appears Joseph Gordon Levitt is in negotiations to join the cast, but the character he may be playing was not mentioned.
I cannot say anything more about this movie, it looks like it is doomed to be horrible and I struggle to find any thread of enthusiasm for a film that I have been waiting for since I was a youngster. Marlon was alright in The Ladykillers and I am sure he can do dramatic roles if he wants to, but he is not right for this part. Not only does he not suit the personality of Ripcord; he looks nothing like the character. I am not sure if the people responsible for the movie know this; but Ripcord is white. I do not want a black Ripcord for the same reasons I do not want a white Roadblock, an asian Shipwreck or a goose wearing a metal mask playing Destro. I want the actors to look like the characters, it is important to me and it bothers me severely when they don’t even try.
I think the people responsible for this movie spend more time huffing glue out of a paper bag than anything else – including sleep. It seems like every week we hear of a new crowbar being thrown into the gears of a franchise that by all accounts – should kick ass. You have characters that work and a plethora of episodes in which to base a film, but FUCK IT we are going to make a horrible version and piss off every fan boy and girl that has been holding their crotches in anticipation since childhood. I don’t know what to tell you guys, all I can do is hope this film gets scrapped and they go back to the drawing board. If the writers strike can put the breaks to this film alone; it would’ve been worth it.
Typical liberal political correctness Hollywood PC history revisionist stunt. Joe and comics have a traditional white boy following, so if you want to help tap into the black audience you share the lead with a black actor. Even if you lose the realism that your core audience demands. I would say shame on you Hollywood but they have rewritten shame out of American culture.
i wouldn’t mind seeing Marlon as ripcord i would love to see some one who has been acting ass long as Marlon has finally get a break in a big budget action flick. who cares if he is black i bet if this movie sucks he will give the best performance then anyone else. and no one knows who ripcord is anyways that’s why they took the liberty to make him more interesting. same way they did for blade in the blade movies. and my fellow nerds learn to accept change. its not all ways bad. everyone thought heath ledger would make a crappy joker. he shut us all up even if it killed him.
Dungeons and Dragons was a fine example of a movie that could have been amazing that was destroyed. I cannot imagine how I would make it any worse. I’m afraid that this G.I.Joe will be a real disappointment. Maybe they can redo it by somebody that gets it. I hope I am wrong but the trailer looks pretty bad. I hope they can get it right if anyone decides to do Silverhawks or Thundercats.
Rob
All you WHITE RACIST BASTARDS!!!! I guess if Tom Cruise played RipCord it would have been all good huh????? I just call it like I see it. Kudos to the producers who didint care about casting Marlon in this role. I guess if your racist asses and yes I said your racist asses!!!!!!!!!! muster up enough of whatever to see the movie and it is the BOMB!!!! then you are still not going to give it credit!!!! Thats why all you movie KKK critics are going to add fuel to the fire in hell!!!
Iam out
If a white guy played a role of a black hero from comics or cartoons it would be concidered racist lol
I think its funny how any comic book character would be type cast any race when making a movie. All of you guys are complaining about if RIPCORD is white or black. When I watched GIJOE all I remembered was “Great American Hero, GO JOE!” and the bad guys “Cobra” were sent off like losers.
I’m a long time fan of G.I. Joe and for some reason I’m not quite as upset about this as the rest of you are. Who cares what color he is, he’s an ACTOR. They tell him to pretend he’s a special forces operative and he’s acts like a special forces operative. Maybe he’s a fan and he wanted to be in the movie. Like Topher said, Sam Jackson pulls off Nick Fury VERY well. And Michael Clark Duncan was a great Kingpin.
And a lot of you don’t remember but Terry Fitzgerald in Spawn was played a white guy, D.B. Sweeney. So it goes the other way as well.
Michael Clarke Duncan was an awesome King Pin. Sam Jackson, I think, looks great as Nick Fury. I think black actors can pull off playing white characters quite well. Marlon may make an good Ripcord. You never know. Ripcord was really not a key character in the show anyway so maybe that won’t focus on him that much. And no, I am not black…
I think some influences and plenty ignorance to give that role to the “blonde chick”. it’s hilarius “hasta chapulinesco”
I think they have ruined this moviei dont understand hollywood just cant get nothing right. Look just like comic fans get mad about superher movies im a gi joe fan i loved that cartoon when i was a kid i still have original toy collection from 1982-1987 and they need fix this gonna be if not already alot pissed off gi joe fans about the movie.Marlon wayans should not be playing rip cord at all he can play stalker.I f they our looking for a duke get that guy used be on saved by the bell played zach he be good choice for duke. I just hope they need fix this right away.
Who will play the leader of the group? Any news yet?
I’m a huge fan of Joseph Gordon Levitt and I’m really hoping that he doesn’t join what looks to be a train wreck of a film.
I’m shocked to hear about Marlon Wayans, I thought he was euthanized a few years back
“I do not want a black Ripcord for the same reasons I do not want a white Roadblock, an asian Shipwreck or a goose wearing a metal mask playing Destro.”
dude i need all that put on a shirt lol
tony k…..thank u for saying that….thank u
Yeah, horrible casting. Things were looking up with Ray Park. It’s like the casting people only got names, no descriptions and they certainly haven’t done research or read the comics. And Akinnuoye-Agbaje playing Heavy Duty . . . come on, I think he would make a better RoadBlock, unless of course they could land Michael Clarke Duncan. This is going to be a disappointment, another studio ruining another childhood show. And the studios wonder why movies aren’t making good money . . . putting out crap and crapping on awesome properties.
I don’t get it
sfsilver very true……but the fan boy population will take up a large majority of ticket sales opening weekend….which is very important…..but i agree tho for most modern movies based on classic franchises they almost always do stuff that ignores the original source material…..i dont know why but in most cases the writer/director changes stuff they dont need to change to put their own twist on it……it pisses a lot of fanboys off (myself) included to change things that dont need to be changed
The vast majority of the film going audience has no idea who Ripcord or any of these other characters beyond GI Joe are This film will need to be well made and entertaining with good action and great special effects to be successful, not slavishly devoted to the minutiae of a cartoon that most people have not seen. I know it’s important to the fan boy set, but to be successful a film needs more than just fan boy support. Casting Wayans is neither here nor there to the success or failure of this film.
oh no wait- please dont get me wrong, im still watching GI joe on opening day because my geekside tells me to (unless the trailers horrible- then id watch it lik on the 3rd day its out)
HAHAHAHHAHAH!!! omg wait-wait- gh-HAAAAAAAA isnt that the guy from white chicks???? ooohhh nooo..i hope they dont put any stupid comedy in the movie- if hes gonna be on it, it means hes goint to do a lot of funny scenes which in this case is a bad thing cuz i wanted this movie to be lik an action kick ass movie lik i thought it was gonna be wen they rumored jason stathan was gonna b in it. well i hope this is only a move to show people hes not only a comedian but also a dude who can play the roll of a man
oh and chris..i agree- NO ONE hates marlon. but again,no one wants him being in an action film theyre loking forward to seeing- i personaly love the dude but if theyre gonna put him in GI joe..they fucked up
….. sonuva BITCH…..well there goes my hope for this flick…..i dont hate marlon per say, but hes obviously gonna be a comic relief…..hes not a horrible actor but i dont think hes needed in a gi joe movie……
can someone please tell me where these casting direcotrs are gettin their weed….oh and if we have a white roadblock….im killing kittens….
Ripcord was taken seriously in the comic book for 3 or 4 issues when he was in love with Bongo, the balloon bear (Candy, the daughter of the Crimson Guardsman who hatched the Cobra Island plan). Perhaps they can give him 3 or 4 minutes in the movie and leave it at that. That wouldn’t be SO bad, I guess.
Im more worried about what this says about the direction of the story. Is he supposed to be the “comic relief”. I hope not.
true.
Eh, who cares.
Also, you forgetting Wayans was good in Requiem for a Dream.
Would that be the same Marlon Wayans that played the comedy sidekick in ‘Dungeons & Dragons’? Oh good, JOY!