Here is who plays Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Paramount has found success turning popular Hasbro toys into movie franchises with Transformers, and the G.I. Joe franchise has been another that the studio has repeatedly tried to launch. The first attempt came in 2009 with the release of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which was met with negative reviews but earned over $300 million worldwide. The performance was enough for Paramount to move forward with a sequel in the hopes of making G.I. Joe characters like Duke, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, and others into more household names.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation featured plenty of recognizable characters from the popular action figures, including a heavier focus on new characters. G.I. Joe: Retaliation killed Channing Tatum’s Duke early on in the movie so that Dwayne Johnson’s Roadblock could take on the lead role of the franchise. His G.I. Joe team includes Adrianne Palicki as Lady Jaye, while they also get help from Bruce Willis’ General Joe Colton, who was the original G.I. Joe. Snake Eyes is the only returning member of the G.I. Joe team to play a major role in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, as the silent assassin plays a pivotal role squaring off with Storm Shadow once again.
Ray Park Plays Snake Eyes In G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Since the fan-favorite Joe never speaks and always has his mask on, knowing that Ray Park plays Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe: Retaliation is not immediately clear. The franchise cast Park to play the expert martial artist in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and he was more than happy to return to the role for the sequel. The Scottish actor and longtime stuntman proved to be a great bit of casting for the franchise, as he helped make Snake Eyes’ skills in hand-to-hand combat and other action sequences feel particularly realistic.
Before Ray Park played Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, he played a few other significant roles in major franchises. The first came with George Lucas casting him as Darth Maul for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Although the role similarly gave Ray Park little dialogue, he brought a great screen presence to the role along with his incredible fighting abilities, which helped make Maul a memorable villain for the franchise. He also played Toad in Fox’s original X-Men movie.
Why G.I. Joe Recast Snake Eyes For The Prequel
G.I. Joe: Retaliation proved to be the last time Ray Park would play Snake Eyes, as Paramount recast the role for 2021’s solo movie. The Snake Eyes origin film starred Henry Golding in the lead role, which unmasked Snake Eyes and explored the path that leads him to join the G.I. Joes. Even though Ray Park did a solid job of playing Snake Eyes before, the idea for and timing of the character’s solo movie made it impossible for him to continue on in the role.
Snake Eyes was made seven years after Park last played the role in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, so the actor would have been nearly 50 years old by the time this origin film was made. That effectively forced Paramount’s hand to recast Snake Eyes, which allowed them to cast a younger actor and one they thought could carry the franchise going forward. Henry Golding ultimately landed the coveted role, but Snake Eyes was a box office disappointment during COVID-19, leaving the G.I. Joe franchise’s future uncertain.
