"The Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow storyline is a very prominent storyline."
The film's producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura was interviewed by
Cinema Blend at the New York Toy Fair. He stressed how important it was to find the right tone for a film like this. He feels as though they've gotten it right and now the Joes live in a world where jeopardy is serious, people die, and there is a risk of death. But not everything is too serious either. Lorenzo points out that you never want to make a film too heavy cause you lose the fun, and no matter what
G.I. Joe is a popcorn flick.
Lorenzo then spoke of Byung-Hun Lee (Storm Shadow), he is one of the few actors that has returned from the first and Lorenzo says that the Asian star has made a remarkable effort to refine his English speaking skills. With that new ability they were able to increase his role significantly.
There will now be two major stories in the film. One will be about the Joes while the other will focus on the ninjas. Both storylines will be battling it out separately and then converge later in the film.
Lorenzo added that Channing Tatum's busy schedule played a part in Duke having a smaller role in the sequel. He'd like to see the character to comeback, and in this universe they could do that. Hmmm, he didn't say Channing would comeback, that makes it seem like Channing is done playing the part. Possibly Duke isn't killed off early in the film like the rumor has it.
G.I. Joe Retaliation stars Channing Tatum, D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Ray Park, Adrianne Palicki, Jonathan Pryce, RZA, Ray Stevenson, and will be released on June 29, 2012.