Ray Stevenson will go up against real American heroes as often camouflaged saboteur, ninja and explosives expert Firefly in the sequel G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes.
We last saw Stevenson as ravenous Volstagg in Marvel’s Thor earlier this summer. He’ll also be seen later this year in Summit Entertainment’s The Three Musketeers as Porthos.
At the end of G..I Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the newly formed terrorist organization saw its two bickering leaders Destro (Christopher Eccleston) and Cobra Commander (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) locked up in a high-security prison. The Baroness (Sienna Miller), considered third in command of the existing villainous cast, was left in the care of the Joes and considered reformed at the film’s end.
Eccleston, Gordon-Levitt and Miller are not expected to appear in Cobra Strikes. However, Destro and Cobra Commander are both masked characters so Paramount and director Jon M. Chu could recast the roles with less expensive actors and not miss a beat. It would make sense for Firefly to be on a mission to free the organization’s top brass during some point in the film.
Thus far the only confirmed returning Cobra cast member is Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) who was left for dead by Snake Eyes (Ray Park). The rivalry between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow is expected to be further developed in the sequel, and Firefly with his ninja slant could find himself getting caught up in it.
The only confirmed returning Joe cast members are Channing Tatum as Duke and Ray Park as Snake Eyes. They’ll be joined by newcomers Adrianne Palicki as Lady Jaye, Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock, DJ Cotrona as Flint, Elodie Yung as Jinx and RZA as The Blind Master. Additional notable Joe characters could potentially be announced at a later date.
G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes begins filming later this summer in Louisiana. It will be released theatrically on August 10, 2012.
Source: THR
