'Snake Eyes' Cast Adds Andrew Koji As Storm Shadow

The G.I. Joe spin-off movie Snake Eyes has found its Storm Shadow. Warrior actor Andrew Koji will play the ninja, who was once close with Snake Eyes before becoming his bitter enemy. Henry Golding will play Snake Eyes, while Red and R.I.P.D. filmmaker Robert Schwentke directs a script from Beauty and the Beast writer Evan Spiliotopoulos.

The Wrap broke the news of Andrew Koji joining the Snake Eyes cast. In G.I. Joe mythology, Storm Shadow is Cobra Commander's ninja bodyguard who comes from a long line of assassins. He joined up with the evil Cobra organization through a desire for vengeance – Cobra Commander recruited him under the promise of revealing the identity of the killer of Storm Shadow's uncle.

Storm Shadow is also a "sword-brother" of Snake Eyes, who eventually convinced Storm Shadow to leave Cobra and join the Joe Team. But his allegiance has changed over time. Per The Wrap, Snake Eyes "centers on Snake Eyes' origins where he tries to become a member of the Arashikage Clan, a ninja clan based in Japan."

I can't say I'm familiar with Koji's work, but he's appeared in the TV shows The Wrong Mans, Call the Midwife, The Innocents, and Warrior. He also did stunt work on Fast and Furious 6 and had an uncredited role in the film.

Snake Eyes will be the latest attempt to get a G.I. Joe film franchise going. Back in 2009, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opened, and while it wasn't a flop, it didn't garner much love, either. Rise of Cobra was followed by 2013's G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which also wasn't much to write home about. Since then there have been attempts to keep the series going, including talk of a third film that never got off the ground. Perhaps realizing that the G.I. Joe team films haven't been working, Paramount will now give this spin-off idea a shot. Whether or not audiences are interested in a Snake Eyes standalone movie remains to be seen. Snake Eyes appeared as a character in both previous Joe films, where he was played by stuntman and actor Ray Park. Storm Shadow also appeared in those movies, played by Byung-Hun Lee.