Andrew Koji reveals he hid a few Easter eggs for fans of the martial arts drama Warrior in the upcoming action film Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. Developed by Banshee showrunner Jonathan Tropper, the former Cinemax series is based on an original story concept and treatment from Bruce Lee and is executive produced by his daughter Shannon and director Justin Lin. Following two well-received seasons on the network, HBO Max acquired the series for season 3, which is expected to premiere on the streaming platform in 2023.
Henry Golding leads the cast of Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins as the titular ninja as it explores his origin story bonding with Tommy Arashikage and his ancient Japanese ninja clan before eventually joining the military squad. Alongside Golding, the cast for the film includes Koji as the soon-to-be Storm Shadow, Samara Weaving as Scarlett, Úrsula Corberó as the Baroness, Iko Uwais as Hard Master and Peter Mensah as Blind Master. Much like Bumblebee of Paramount's fellow Hasbro franchise Transformers, the film is taking a soft reboot/prequel approach to the G.I. Joe film series.
With the film right around the corner, Koji caught up with Polygon to discuss Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. In reflecting on his background as a martial artist and the experience he brought to his role as Storm Shadow, the actor discussed how his work on Warrior helped him with the film and that he included a few Easter eggs for fans of the series. See what Koji had to say below:
"With each role, you take what you’ve learned from the previous job, but you don’t want to take too much. There will always be some remnants of the particularly physical characters, like how I tried to throw in a few little cheeky bits of Ah Sahm for the Warrior fans out there during the opening fish plant fight scene in this movie."
For fans of the HBO Max series, Koji's casting as Storm Shadow in Snake Eyes was exciting news given his strong performance as lead of Warrior as well as his proficiency as a martial artist and stuntman. Though the series may feature a different kind of fighting style than the G.I. Joe prequel, the general physicality and coordination needed for both does make the transition easier for one as skilled as Koji. To hear he has included little Easter eggs in the film and its fight sequences for fans of Warrior is a nice treat for the viewers who campaigned for HBO Max to greenlight a new season of the series.
This hype may have been stifled by the mixed early reactions to Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, but the return of Koji to the action scene is sure to still draw audiences back in. Plus with HBO Max developing Warrior season 3 and the actor confirming talks to return for a sequel, the future is looking bright for the star. The latest installment in the Paramount live-action franchise hits theaters Friday.
Source: Polygon
