G.I. JOE 2: Channing Tatum, Byung-hun Lee, Ray Park Return

Rachel Nichols says Duke (Channing Tatum), Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee), Snake Eyes (Ray Park) will be the only returning G.I. Joe team members for Jon Chu‘s G.I. Joe 2 (2012). “It had been previously reported that the main cast from [G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra] were contractually obligated to do the sequel, but that might not be the case after all. Rachel Nichols, who played Shana Scarlett’ O’Hara in the 2009 toy-to-film adaptation” tweeted that

GI JOE 2 News Flash: The only characters to return in the JON CHU directed sequel will be SNAKE EYES, STORM SHADOW, and DUKE…

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My first question is how is Storm Shadow still alive after what happened to him in G.I. Joe Joe: The Rise of Cobra? One of the off-the-books reasons for Rachel Nichols being chosen for the original film was because of her comely physical appearance. Why wouldn’t you bring that sales factor back to the sequel? That would be like Megan Fox not returning for a Transformers sequel. Oh, wait…but they replaced with her with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. My guess is that the budget for the sequel is so small they can’t afford the salary for all of the potential returning cast members and had to chose who they thought were key people for the sequel.

In a follow-up tweet, Rachel Nicols said:

“… Thank you. After the GI JOE news I had Heavy Boots, but I’m smiling now!”

The plan is probably for them to hire a lower priced actress or actresses to be the visual stimulation for the film. Sienna Miller is not returning either. Producers will definitely not be able to afford Dennis Quaid‘s quote or Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s, especially after Inception‘s reception and acclaim.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is likely to take a prominent role in Christopher Nolan‘s “The Dark Knight Rises” and considering “G.I. Joe 2” is gearing up to shoot this summer as well with a 2012 release in mind, it will be a clash of schedules. Perhaps a cameo to address what happens to him, but we doubt it will be much more than that.

Mine and other opinions are that we will see a gaggle of new faces in the sequel, lower priced faces, with less ambitious CGI (thank Christ). Let’s hope Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who wrote Zombieland, are able to turn in a good script. What everyone’s dreams about is a hardcore, indie, realistic G.I. Joe film that will never see the light of day. What do you think of the latest G.I. Joe 2 casting debacle news?

Source: Slashfilm, Theplaylist