G.I. Joe’sReal-Life Connection Between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow

Inthe mythology of G.I. Joe , the liaison between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow is dense and complex . The two fought together , trained together , and became as skinny as brothers — only to eventually turn into bitter competition . That family relationship carries over not just into the Modern picture , Snake Eyes : G.I. Joe Origins , but its actor . Though their past has decidedly few samurai swords and pour down .

Henry Golding ( Crazy Rich Asians , Last Christmas ) , who plays Snake Eyes , and Andrew Koji ( Warrior ) , who wreak Tommy ( aka Storm Shadow ) , did n’t meet until they were tramp in Snake Eyes . But the two grew up in the same area of England and are around the same eld . “ We ’re both from Surrey , ” Koji told io9 over video . “ We ’re Surrey boy . ” Golding explains that Koji last to the same college most of his Friend went to , which was also right next to where he grew up . “ Two one-half Asiatic fry growing up in that area , to not have met and only to meet midway across the world on this amazing sort of yield was something really limited , ” Golding said . “ And so our bond was of course there from the get-go . ” Koji added , “ And I imagine some of that has in all likelihood gone into the moving-picture show . ”

Snake Eyes : G.I. Joe Origins takes place in a world where the famed radical G.I. Joe and Cobra exist , but they’renot the focus of the story . The focus is on a young human ( Golding ) who is on the hunting for vengeance after the murder of his don . He saves the life of Tommy ( Koji ) , and the two form a bond and travel back to Japan to aim with Tommy ’s family , the fabled kinship group know as the Arashikage . However , not all is as it seems as both of the serviceman are carrying secrets . “ We are taking it out of the traditional kind of figure of speech of being a hero and making it as layered as potential . ” Golding said of the film . This mean at least at the scratch line , the heroic G.I. Joe Snake Eyes you know from activity figures , cartoons , and comics wo n’t be there yet , and neither will be the villainous Cobra agent Storm Shadow . But each is go towards it .

Henry Golding and Andrew Koji in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.

Henry Golding and Andrew Koji in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.Photo: Paramount

“ In the source , Snake Eyes is kind of this very mislead kind of youth . He ’s had a very traumatic past and his main goal and only intention at that point in living is vengeance … In doing that , we realize by and by , he has had no code of honour , ” Golding said of his character . “ A code of honor really implies that you have sacrificed yourself to a great undecomposed … and something like honor only come with family . That ’s what he finds with the Arashikage . So once he finds that laurels within himself , he becomes the Snake Eyes that we all make out and love . That journey and that story spark , I think , was really subtle yet very important . ”

Directed by Robert Schwentke ( Red)—from a screenplay by Evan Spiliotopoulos , Joe Shrapnel , and Anna Waterhouse — Snake Eyes was shot part on location in Japan with a predominately Asiatic cast . More so than even its tale of honor , treachery , and action figures turned to biography , that ’s what Koji believes resonate with the film . “ All I want , really at the end of the day , was for the kids that look on this film and the fan [ to be proud of ] , ” Koji say . “ I did n’t have a character or big cinema like this when I was growing up that I could see , [ so ] I want [ the nipper ] to sense see and hear and for them to feel empowered . ”

Much as Koji hopes the cinema endue fans , the fans conversely have the power to see more of G.I. Joe . It ’s not surprising to say the film ends in a topographic point where the stories of Snake Eyes , Storm Shadow , as well as G.I. Joe and Cobra , could continue in more movies if this one is a hit with audiences . And if that happens , each player has very specific thoughts on what they ’d like to do next .

Golding as Snake Eyes.

Golding as Snake Eyes.Photo: Paramount

“ I really require to see a braggart humankind , ” Golding order . “ We are very much in this microcosm of a nook of the Arashikage and Japan . But of grade , the reach of Cobra are far - reaching beyond that of where we are in this particular film . I have it off the human race of sort of espionage , and I think G.I. Joe and this world it has that aspect . I would love something in that realm of having to kind of infiltrate … I want to see him , with the right motivations , infiltrate somewhere else . And of course , I want him to get withstand the weaponry which makes him sort of iconic . ” Koji agrees . “ I ’d sleep together to see him in more the Cobra look [ where ] he ’s got a hooded look and his bow and arrow , ” he say . “ And I love to see him with these different weapons that he ’s a master of . I ’d enjoy to see more of the Arashikage technique . And evidently , it would be really cool to explore the psychology . ”

Plus , this is Hollywood . At the same time Paramount and Hasbro are rebooting G.I. Joe with Snake Eyes , the companies are also working together on a young take onTransformers yell ascension of the Beasts . Could the company make Snake Eyes and Optimus Prime team up ? “ Snake Eyes on the berm of Optimus Prime is something that I grew up conceive of with the laughable book and all that jazz , ” Golding said . “ That would be phenomenal . ”

Snake heart : G.I. Joe Origins open in theaters on July 23 .

Koji as Tommy.