G.I. JOE: RETALIATION Director Jon Chu Discusses Story and Cobra Commander

G.I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon Chu is obviously a huge fan of the animated G.I. Joe series that many of us grew up with. This is the kind of director the movie franchise needed! This movie needed to be made by a fan who understands the fans and respects the property for what it is. I was very skeptical at first, but everything I've seen so far awesomely represents the animated series and toys that I grew up with, so how can I not be excited!? I just didn't think it would come from the guy who directed the Step Up movies and that Justin Bieber documentary. 

MTV caught up with the director at Toy Fair and conducted an interview with him in which he discusses the film's characters, story, and the reinvention of Cobra Commander. You've seen the trailer so you know that Snake Eyes and Road Block play a huge role in the story, and that's because they are Chu's favorite characters.

I loved Snake Eyes, of course, and I love Road Block. Those two to me were the coolest duo out there. To me, it was Roadblock and Snake Eyes together that was the kickass team

How can you argue with that logic? As a fan of the series I have to agree. Duke was also cool, but he was still always a little uptight. He went on to talk about casting these characters saying,

It was a dream to be like, 'All right, now we really get to make Roadblock the guy. Who would be the perfect Roadblock?' Of course, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and being able to have Ray Park return as Snake Eyes and have them be on two different adventures all across the world is awesome.

In staying true to the animated series Chu wanted to make this movie a world wide adventure.

As any 'Joe' adventure is, it spans the world, and it's an adventure that ranges from you're in Pakistan one second to Japan the next second and Korea another one, Washington, D.C. You're definitely jumping around and it also collides at a certain point. 

He then goes on to talk about bringing Cobra Commander back to his roots and giving fans the Badass villain we all remember.

There are a couple things I really wanted to do in this movie. One of those things was reinvent Cobra Commander, to do it the way I remember him and take him to the next level. To me, Cobra is one of the most iconic villains of all time. I just wanted to know that was him. I wanted to make him more badass than ever.

We got to design him from the ground up. Creating the mask, we went through 35 revisions and how his voice was going to be, how reflective it was going to be. He's definitely a huge presence, and I can't wait. I'm sort of trying to hide a little bit, so people when they come don't know what to expect from Cobra, which is sort of the fun part of it.

I've got to say, I love what I've seen from Cobra Commander so far! The fact that Chu's is still hiding stuff about the character is awesome, and I can't wait to see what he has in store. It looks like G.I. Joe has found the movie director that it deserves, and I'm extremely excited to see it!

What are your thoughts on what Chu had to say in this interview and his vision for G.I. Joe?

 

 

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