Home Rumour: G.I. JOE 3 to have MASK crossover and classic villains?

Rumour: G.I. JOE 3 to have MASK crossover and classic villains?

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GIJoe_Retaliation

Since Michael Bay proved in 2007 that making movies based on toys could be a very lucrative business, it only seemed natural that fellow 1980’s Hasbro toy-line turned cartoon G.I. Joe would follow the Transformers to the big screen. It actually seemed like an even better fit for a blockbuster with its cast of crazy and colourful characters.

But then we ended up with a still very much-developing Channing Tatum and Marlon Wayans in boring black jumpsuits instead. Luckily we also got a super cool Snake Eyes and a badass chase-scene in Paris. That coupled with some franchise viagra in the form of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and a stricter adherence to the over-the-top source material in the follow-up, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, means that lots of money was still made – enough for us to find ourselves now prepping for a 3rd entry in the movie series. And if rumours are to be believed, this could be the biggest and most 1980’s cartoon-ish movie yet in the franchise.

Tomax_and_Xamot

Before G.I. Joe: Retaliation‘s Jon M. Chu vacated the directors chair – rumoured to be soon be filled by DJ Caruso (Disturbia, I Am Number Four) – he said that he planned to bring a host of classic characters to the third movie. And according to Film Divider‘s sources, that’s still happening as the Joes will apparently be facing off against twin brother villain Tomax and Xamot. The brothers, who have some vague telepathic abilities, are described as being “Corsican twins who worked as mercenaries before becoming merchant bankers. Through their company, Extensive Enterprises, the twins act as the acceptable face of Cobra. They manage the terrorist organization’s business affairs as well as lead their elite Crimson Guard force.”

As Film Divider mentions, they’re just the right amount of goofy and crazy to fit in perfectly with this G.I. Joe movie world. But it’s the other rumoured cast addition that could be a real game changer though: Matt Trakker. If you don’t know who that is, then clearly your childhood wasn’t as awesome as mine. Trakker was the lead character in M.A.S.K. or Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand  (the 1980’s never let proper spelling get in the way of a good acronym), another toy line and cartoon from that decade, this time run by Kenner. MASK was a sort of mashup of G.I. Joe and Transformers as Trakker led his crew of heroes who all drove various transforming vehicles as well wearing signature masks that gave each person a unique special ability. Also, they had one seriously cheese-tastic opening theme song that I will love until my dying day* (Don’t judge me!).

When Kenner was purchased by Hasbro in 1991, Trakker and some of the other M.A.S.K. characters were folded into the G.I. Joe toyline, reinventing them as “mission specialists”. And now it looks like that merging is going to happen on the big screen as well.

What’s more, some obvious speculation would lead you to think that Trakker’s appearance won’t just be a random cameo, but could possibly serve as the jumping off point for a whole new franchise of M.A.S.K. movies. Universal Pictures have previously stated that they had no intention of crossing over the G.I. Joe and Transformers movie universes, but a M.A.S.K. movie could just be the next big thing to it.

Besides the only 80’s-based movie crossover I really want to see is Transformers and the upcoming Masters of the Universe reboot. C’mon, who wouldn’t want to see He-Man and Optimus Prime in a sword fight? I’m pretty sure that I actually staged that fight when I was a kid!

*Bonus awesome childhood tale: My young friends and I loved the show so much that we made our own “masks” out of cardboard. A few of us were very creative and very good with arts and crafts, so we had full-on, cover your entire head and shoulders masks made out of cardboard, that had moving parts and lenses made out of plastic etc. We were clearly geeks

Last Updated: February 10, 2015

3 Comments

  1. So if this all goes well, wonder when the movie gods will decide that Bravestarr and Galaxy Rangers deserve some love. Could be an 80’s re-awkening.

    Reply

    • Lardus-Resident Perve

      February 10, 2015 at 12:47

      Braaaaaavve Staaaaaarrr! Eyes of the Hawk, Ears of the wolf!

      Braaaaaavve Staaaaaarrr!Strength of the Bear, Speed of the Puma!!!

      Reply

  2. ultraviolet

    February 15, 2015 at 00:41

    I really don’t care who is in part 3, if its as enjoyable as the last 2 I’m in

    Reply

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