Snake Eyes: G.I Joe Origins serves as a launching pad for a second film, Snake Eyes 2, or a brand new G.I. Joe movie but will it happen? A new origin for G.I. Joe's popular black-clad ninja, Snake Eyes is a reboot that's unrelated to 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and 2013's G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
Snake Eyes updates how the warrior who is known only as Snake Eyes (Henry Golding) befriends Tommy Arashikage AKA Storm Shadow (Andrew Koji), the heir to a powerful ninja clan. As Snake Eyes tries to join the Arashikage and earn their trust, they are faced with a threat from the Yakuza and their leader, Kenta (Takehiro Hira), who was cast out by the Arashikage and wants revenge. As Kenta carries out his plans, Cobra and G.I. Joe take action in what's happening in Japan.
Snake Eyes is obviously intended to relaunch the G.I. Joe movie franchise with a fresh new direction and the film lays the groundwork for the characters to continue and for the universe to further expand. Here's everything we know so far about Snake Eyes 2.
Will Snake Eyes 2 Happen?
Snake Eyes 2 has not been announced yet and whether a sequel or a full-blown G.I. Joe movie is made next is entirely dependent on how well Snake Eyes does at the box office. If Snake Eyes' earnings sufficiently exceed its reported $88-million budget, a sequel will be greenlit. Given the uncertain state of the movie industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, plenty of questions surround whether Snake Eyes 2 (or a new G.I. Joe) will happen.
However, there's definitely been movement on the next movie in the Snake Eyes/G.I. Joe universe. In May 2020, a follow-up film was announced to be in development, with a script co-written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, who co-wrote Snake Eyes. Whether it's Snake Eyes 2 or a proper G.I. Joe movie isn't clear.
Snake Eyes 2 Release Date
If Snake Eyes 2 (or G.I. Joe) happens, it likely wouldn't be released until 2023 at the earliest. Snake Eyes went into production in late 2019 and was supposed to be released in 2020 before the pandemic. However, if the next film is a G.I. Joe movie, it may take even longer to ramp up since that's a much bigger project and would need to cast key characters like General Joe Colton, who was referenced in Snake Eyes, the members of G.I. Joe, and villains like Cobra Commander.
Snake Eyes 2 Cast
Snake Eyes' ending set the stage for the return of Henry Golding as the eponymous hero, Andrew Koji as Storm Shadow, Samara Weaving as Scarlett, and Úrsula Corberó as Baroness. The two female characters were specifically in Snake Eyes to establish that G.I. Joe and Cobra already exist in the universe and to bridge to a G.I. Joe movie. There's no indication if the characters who make up the Arashikage clan in Snake Eyes like Akiko (Haruka Abe), Hard Master (Iko Uwais), and Blind Master (Peter Mensah) will return for Snake Eyes 2 or in a team-up flick.
Snake Eyes 2 Story Details
Snake Eyes' ended with the black-clad warrior chasing after Storm Shadow, and the film ended with each ninja taking a side in the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra conflict. Snake Eyes 2 could further expand upon the friendship between the two blood-brothers that turned into a bitter rivalry, but Snake Eyes' ending was also a natural bridge to a full-blown G.I. Joe movie.
Snake Eyes also subtly established some of the sci-fi and fantastical elements of the 1980s G.I Joe animated series and there are plot threads involving Cobra's interest in Japan and the artifact the Arashikage clan possesses that a sequel can follow up on in a G.I. Joe movie. Another key development that has to be shown in a sequel is how Snake Eyes eventually loses his voice and becomes silent.
G.I. Joe's Movie Future: Other Movies That Could Happen
Snake Eyes' producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura recently said that he feels the long-discussed Transformers (which is doing Beast Wars)/G.I. Joe crossover is "inevitable", even though he also admitted that Hasbro's plans to create a shared cinematic universe for their two biggest toy properties as well as other popular 1980s cartoons like M.A.S.K. didn't amount to anything. For Hasbro and Paramount, the next logical step is hoping that Snake Eyes can gross enough at the box office to warrant Snake Eyes 2 so that the G.I. Joe movie universe can proceed as they hope.
