Who Is Duke?

"DUKE is the code name of First Sergeant Conrad S. Hauser. He is field commander and second-in-command of the G.I. Joe Team after Hawk. He is one of the key characters of G.I. Joe and a fan-favorite.

His file states that he hails from St. Louis, Missouri and is fluent in English, French and German, as well as several Southeast Asian dialects. He was at the top of his class at Fort Benning, has undergone Special Forces training and worked with South Vietnamese Tribesmen. He was also an instructor in four different Special Forces schools. Despite his accomplishments, he has repeatedly turned down any officer commissions offered to him. He believes a commander's place is with his troops, not behind the battle lines." [wiki]

in the live-action movie, Channing Tatum plays First Sergeant Conrad S. Hauser / Duke: The lead soldier. Mark Wahlberg was first considered for this role.

[more images of Ripcord on FIgures.com]

Who Is Ripcord?

in comics-lore, RIPCORD was a HALO Jumper (High Altitude Low Opening) [via] and in the GI Joe movie, "Wallace A. Weems" is played by Marlon Wayans as "the leaders of a military unit" and is a buddy to DUKE.

[more images of Ripcord on FIgures.com]

Who Is General Hawk?

"HAWK is the code name of Major General Clayton M. Abernathy. He is the commander of the G.I. Joe Team. Born in Denver, Colorado, he comes from a wealthy family whose influence enabled him to enroll in West Point where he graduated at the top of his class. He was even able to gain experience in the battlefield in several trouble spots. One description of him is that he is "keenly intelligent and perceptive and quite capable of totally selfless acts in support of his team-mates. An excellent leader!"

Hawk is the original field commander of the G.I. Joe Team. Gen. Lawrence J. Flagg was the original commanding officer for the team's first few years. Hawk, who was a Colonel then, was responsible for recruiting most of the roster that made up the first Joe Team. He quickly gains their respect by personally leading missions and engaging the enemy head on.

After the death of Flagg, Hawk succeeds him as the commander. Operations at the Pit (the Joes' headquarters) kept him busy and he had to relegate field command to a new character, Duke. Eventually, Hawk is promoted to general and took full command. He was commanding officer of the G.I. Joe team beginning with the invasion of the Cobra-controlled town of Springfield." [wiki]

Dennis Quaid plays General Clayton M. Abernathy / Hawk: The team leader. Quaid described Hawk as "a cross between Chuck Yeager and Sgt. Rock and maybe a naïve Hugh Hefner". He filmed all his scenes within the first two months of production, and is signed on for two sequels. [wiki]

[more images of Hawk on Figures.com]

Who Is Cover Girl?

"COVER GIRL is a tank jockey, specializing in the Wolverine missile tank, and a respected mechanic. (Specialty - Armored Vehicle Expert)

Prior to joining G.I. Joe, Cover Girl was a highly successful fashion model from Peoria, Illinois who graced the covers of countless magazines, but she found the world of modeling unfulfilling and joined the army to seek out new challenges in life. She felt very driven to master distinctly unfeminine traits in order to prove that she was not just a pretty face.

Her beauty made her something of a fantasy object among many Joes, most notably Shipwreck and Clutch. Although she manages a playful flirtation with Shipwreck, Cover Girl was repulsed by Clutch's blatantly chauvinistic personality, and she continually rejected his advances, only to be confounded at how good a team they made in the heat of battle." [wiki]

Courtney A. Kreiger / Cover Girl is played by Karolína Kurková - and in the G.I.Joe Movie, she is General Hawk's aide-de-camp.

[more images of Cover Girl on Figures.com / Karolina on IESB.net]

G.I. Joe Movie Logo

Slashfilm featured the "official" G.I.Joe movie logo a while back in Feb, along with a plot synopsis:

“From the Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite co-ed GI JOE team, based from it’s headquarters The Pit, deploys the latest in next-gen spy and military equipment to fight crooked arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious COBRA organization from plunging the world into chaos.”

whereas this is the plot outline from IMDB:

"An elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe, operating out of The Pit, takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer."

Bootlegged Battle-Joe by TOYSREVIL

and while im hesitant to post the "original" leaked image of the G.I. JOE movie movie Battle Armor sculpt-tests that came together with Scarlett O'Hara's (to not spoil any surprises - but you can peep them here instead) - not that im anywhere near the level or popularity of all other online-powerhouses (hence beneath the notice and attention of Paramount Pictures to seek removal of aforementioned leaked-pics) but perhaps i could offer a bootlegged-image instead? of what it may look like - within the battlefields of thy hallowed mindscape, yeh? - so "technically", this really isn't the actual "leaked-image", innit? *cough*

*Disclaimer: The image and design/color-treatment shown is in no way the final design from the movie and is my own intepretation*

all im saying is, this could be the workings+beginnings of a fab-designed line of toys to come, action figures or 1/6th-scale, IMHO ... gotta lurve the Stormtrooper-ish armor tho! dab on a tinge of urban-camo? BRING THAT SOLDIER A WEAPON NOW, STAT!

heh.

[first posted on TRE April 17th]

Beauty May Only Be Skin Deep, But Lethal Is To The Bone: Scarlett Revealed!

my amateur-phtoshopping attempts notwithstanding, the first image of Rachel Nichols as Shana "SCARLETT" O'Hara from the live-action G.I. JOE movie, has surfaced online via JoBlo.com (pretty quick after the recently-pulled "Battle Amour-WIP" leaked pics too, innit? peep below) and i'd thought to put her next to her paramour SNAKE-EYES [last revealed here]

"ACTUAL" IMAGE PROPER (click to embiggen):

INITIAL-PULLED IMAGE OF BATTLE-AMOR-WIP
(for visual reference):

(FYI: watermarked-logo from pic-originator has been removed)

"Scarlett (aka Agent Scarlett) is a main character in the G.I. Joe series and she, along with Lady Jaye, are generally regarded as its leading ladies.

She was the first female action figure in the G.I. Joe toy line and is also the only member of the original team to see much action in both cartoon and comic incarnations. The official line on Scarlett is that her full name is Shana M. O'Hara. She was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Although she is as adept with standard weapons as any of her comrades, her weapon of choice is the crossbow which fires various bolts with specialized functions. Her rank is Master Sergeant, and she serves from time to time as team leader. Her primary specialty for the team is counter intelligence and is additionally skilled in martial arts and acrobatics.

She learned her martial arts skills from her father, who trained her and her three brothers as he was an instructor. She has several black belts in various forms of martial arts. She has long red hair, which she tends to put up into a pony tail. In some of her appearances, it is shown she may speak with a southern drawl or localized Georgian Accent. She also graduated summa cum laude from a prestigious university, and passed her Bar Exams to practice law before moving into the military." [wiki]

[first posted on TRE April 17th]

Snake-Eyes Revealed!

AICN has two Snake-Eyes still images from the upcoming live-action G.I.Joe feature film up (with Ray Park snuggled underneath) and it looks pretty darn effin' cool, it does, besides the obligatory muscle-suit prevailant in all blardy-Hollywood genre-flicks of late, it still retains a parred-down feel without frills, except for the Arashikage ninja clan symbol on-shoulder and katana-blade (whoo-hoo!) and military-issue webgear = *noice* ... let's hope the rest of the crew can maintain this notion of design, maybe?

SHH reports: "He's the world's greatest ninja, but he's also next-generation. He's not afraid to use a sword one second, and a split-second later he's pulling out his Glock," (director; Stephen) Sommers told USA Today. "His chief nemesis is arguably the world's other great ninja, Storm Shadow. The two grew up together, were blood brothers and now are mortal enemies."

Sommers stressed that the movie is an origins story, so his challenge is to explain why the bad guy wears a metal mask, why Snake Eyes doesn't talk and other strange things kids took for granted. "For people who know nothing about it, it'll make sense," Sommers said. "And to people who love this stuff, it'll show where they all came from."

meanwhile, let's look at the pictures - photoshopped-brightened by yours truly
(would you ever have a doubt i wouldn't? :p)

[above-image with slight P/S / below-image after P/S]

nice snug hood - but someone's gotta explain the visor for me tho :p

Katana with Arashikage clan-symbol ("Arashikage" is Snake Eye's ninja-clan)

the ninja with a katana and a gun

strike a pose (a tad too buff for my ninja-tastes tho, IMHO)

[first posted on TRE March 21st]