GI Joe is a beloved IP that has been around for decades. Thinking that it started from a toyline, then evolved into different cartoon series and even went into comics before finally being translated to the big screen is pretty insane. It was even adapted into anime. Before it went mainstream with the 2009 live-action movie, there had already been cartoons about it, and they were all well-received by the fanbase. But then came the live action movies. This is mostly where the fanbase started to suffer, because the movie took many liberties with the GI Joe universe. This article will cover 10 of the liberties taken.
1. The unit is American in the Source Material
If the phrase ‘A Real American Hero’ isn’t too on-the-nose for you, then you’re in for a surprise. The live action GI Joe established the team as a combination of the world’s top military operatives…the best of the best…but originally, GI Joe is uniquely American. Snake Eyes isn’t Japanese. Breaker isn’t Moroccan. Cover Girl isn’t European. Heavy Duty isn’t British. The idea was probably to showcase just how much talent there is in GI Joe, but that doesn’t excuse it from the fact that it went off the rails in terms of accurate representation of the team in live action format.
2. Duke and Ripcord’s friendship
Duke and Ripcord go way back in the movies, and it seems like their friendship was taken from the source material due to how easily and how well they get along with each other. That is owed entirely to the actors’ abilities to showcase lifelong friends on screen, because these two characters are not the best buddies that they were shown to be. Duke’s best friend is Roadblock in the source material. In fact, Roadblock was going to be included in The Rise of Cobra, and was going to be played by Common, but they felt that there was already one character who was into heavy duty (no pun intended) guns, and that was Heavy Duty himself, who is Roadblock’s cousin in the source material.
3. Ripcord
You may have an idea of what changes and liberties they took with Ripcord, aka Wallace Weems in GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra. The character was made back in the 20th Century and comes from Wisconsin.
If you’re thinking about his… attitude, you’re right. Ripcord isn’t the comic relief in the source material. He is a serious character. The other things about him like his name and his ability to fly jets were kept in the movie. But that’s pretty much all of it. He was given some of Roadblock’s… attributes to make Duke’s character work really well with him.
4. Snake Eyes
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the silent, mysterious ninja warrior became a fan favourite. He is so loved by the fanbase that he’s even getting his own movie, and while we await the movie, we can talk about a few things that differ from his source material counterpart. The most obvious fact is his nationality. While in the source material, he is American, the movie made him Japanese. He is also a blond in the source material. These two aren’t the only changes that were made to him, though. The reason for his inability to speak has also been altered in the movie. In the source material, he doesn’t speak because he was in a helicopter crash that messed up his voice box, but in the movie, he took a vow of silence after his master was killed. While the reason he wears a body suit in the movie hasn’t been disclosed, he wears one in the source material because he wanted to cover up the scars he got from the helicopter crash.
5. Snake Eyes and Scarlett
This one comes as a bit of a shock. Really? Scarlett and Ripcord aren’t a thing in the source material? Yeah, they really aren’t. The person Scarlett falls in love with in the source material is Snake Eyes. It’s a bit weird to imagine, but it works all the same. They are a very lethal pair when they’re together in the source material, with her being the brains to his brawn. Not that Snake Eyes is dumb or that she’s incapable of holding her own against fierce opponents. We even get a hint at the source material’s romance between the two when Ripcord mentions that Scarlett is attracted to Snake Eyes when he’s trying to flirt with her during a training session. Maybe they were gonna go for a classic love triangle trope if the movies went on.
6. Duke and Baroness
This could come as a big blow to those who got introduced to GI Joe by the movies, but it is true. Duke and Baroness are not a thing in the source material. Baroness is pure evil. She is an apprentice of Storm Shadow…and to add to that, she is a racist, and is European. What makes it hurt even more is that she is genuinely in love with Destro in the source material. So, what you see in the movie and root against…that’s actually what’s supposed to really happen.
7. Baroness and Cobra Commander’s Relationship
The Baroness and Cobra Commander are NOT related in the source material. In fact, no one knows who the Commander really is. His identity is kept secret from everyone, but he is surely not related to Baroness. To add to that, Baroness hates the Commander, and at some point plots with her lover, Destro, to overthrow Commander so that they can be happy and together in peace.
8. Destro
As was covered before, Destro is different in his source material iteration. In the source material, he isn’t the descendant of a traitorous arms’ dealer, or the one who initially, unknowingly hired the Cobra Commander. He, in the source material was hired by Cobra Commander and works under him, even though he hates him. There’s also the iconic mask. In the source material, the face mask is actually a mask, not the result of nanomites repairing his face and changing its colour after he suffered major burns. To add to that, there are no nanomites in him, forcing him to do the bidding of the Cobra Commander.
9. Roadblock’s Role
This is one of those cases where starpower took over the role of the character in the movie. After the release of The Rise of Cobra and the mixed to negative critic and overall fan response to it, Paramount wanted a way to work around the movie, rebooting the saga, but not completely disregarding the 2009 movie. The first move was letting go of most of the cast, except for Channing Tatum, Byung-Hun Lee and Ray Park, with Jonathan Pryce and Arnold Vosloo. The second move was getting more marketable actors and putting in new characters, which resulted in Roadblock, being played by Dwayne Johnson, being brought into the movie. The problem with this was that Johnson was so big of a star that he could not be put in a supporting role with less-marketable actors like Channing Tatum, DJ Cotrona and Adrianne Palicki (at the time). He became the main star, even though Roadblock is not big enough to be the lead in the source material. He was a secondary lead at best, giving Duke his much-deserved spotlight as the main lead.
10. Their Technology
The technology that the Joes use in the source material is standard military gear. They use the usual high-tech gear that we see in the modern military, with maybe one or two things that are out of this world, but nowhere near as advanced as what we saw in GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra. The best example of such is the use of the Delta 6 Accelerator Suits. These were made solely for the movie and were the most advanced thing in the movie, other than the nanomites. While there are other examples, this one stands out as the most obvious one; the one that sticks out the most.
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