Snake Eyes may have served as an origin story for the G.I. Joe cinematic universe, but it’s building on a decades-long foundation in comics. That foundation was built in “Silent Interlude,” issue 21 of GI Joe: A Real American Hero, which first introduced Snake Eyes’ nemesis Storm Shadow and lay the groundwork for his backstory.
While promoting the home release of Snake Eyes, Larry Hama, the writer and penciler of the infamous no-dialogue issue as well as a legend in comics, spoke to Screen Rant about how his characters have been translated from page to screen and shared some secrets about Storm Shadow’s early days.
Screen Rant: I'm a Storm Shadow guy. You hit on some themes in his introduction that are heavily explored in the film. Can you talk to me about why you tied Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow together?
Larry Hama: Well, that's a little complicated. Snake Eyes started out as a commando. Up until issue 26, he didn't have a sword; he wasn't a ninja, but he was this mysterious commando guy. But my underlying wish from the beginning was that he should have been an Asian guy.
But when they brought in Storm Shadow, I thought, "Well, wait a second. The only Asian in this universe, and he's a bad guy?" So, I decided to change him to a good guy.
When I introduced him in issue 21, I had no idea how they related to each other. I should explain first that I write page by page, so I have no idea what's on page five until I get to page four. I just make sure I really define a character, then I put the characters into the situation and let them write it. So, I got halfway through the story of Silent Interlude, and both characters had their sleeves torn in the fight, and I thought, "Well, what can I do with these two torn sleeves exposing their right forearms?" I thought, "I'll give the same tattoo." An alternating broken and solid line with the broken line on top.
I had no idea why they both had the same tattoo, I just thought it would be really cool. Make the reader go, "Oh, why do they have the same tattoo?" Well, I was asking myself the same question. Five issues later, I had to come up with the whole backstory and thought, "Oh, it's the sigil of a ninja." That's how it all came together.
This film isn't only a Snake Eyes (Henry Golding) origin film, but it's also a Storm Shadow (Andrew Koji) origin film. Can you talk to me a little bit about the relationship between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow as it's explored in the film?
Larry Hama: The central theme of the relationship is this brotherhood, the rift of the brotherhood, and then the eventual redemption and reconciliation. And they kept that aspect in the movie, but they reversed the order of things. But that's the dynamic between the two characters that works in the dramaturgy, and the filmmakers were smart enough to realize this is a cool relationship - and they kept it.
"Silent Interlude" is of my favorite comics of all time from GI Joe: A Real American Hero. I'm sure you've heard that a lot throughout your lifetime. This issue also explores a little bit of the Snake Eyes and Scarlett relationship. You drew and wrote this out in three days, is that right? What inspired the particular story?
Larry Hama: Why is this book silent? It's because we had to come up with an entire issue in two weeks or something - it was a schedule glitch. If I write it and draw it simultaneously, that saves a couple of weeks, but we still had to chop more time off the schedule. And I said, "If I make it a silent issue, there's no lettering. You don't have to send it to a letterer." That saves another whole week. We made that decision on a Friday night, so I took the job home and worked on it all weekend, and I handed it in late on Monday. Just three days of drawing. That's how it was done.
It wasn't the fastest I've ever worked, though. Howard Chaykin, Vince Colletta, and me did a James Bond movie adaptation. 44 pages in one week, starting from nothing. And it stands up. It was For Your Eyes Only. It's a perfectly passible comic.
We only scratched the surface in Snake Eyes, but can you talk a little bit about the Snake Eyes and Scarlett (Samara Weaving) relationship throughout G.I. Joe's history?
Larry Hama: That's one of the main fantasy elements, the fact that Scarlett accepts Snake Eyes no matter what. And that despite his being completely disfigured under the mask, she still loves him. There's no qualifications on the relationship. And to me that's - and I think there are a lot of kids who feel this way - an extremely strong fantasy; that acceptance of all your flaws.
Snake Eyes has introduced us to some of the most iconic villains created with Cobra and the Baroness (Úrsula Corberó). Can you talk to me a little bit about that character?
Larry Hama: The reason she came about was that I was writing the first issue of G.I. Joe, and I looked at all the Cobra characters and realized that not a single one of them had a face. They were all completely covered with masks or whatever. And it's hard to tell a visual story if you don't have agents of expression. You just had faceless figures talking to each other. That's boring as hell.
I thought, "I've got to come up with a foil for Cobra Commander, somebody that Cobra Commander could talk to and that provides the exposition." And I thought, "Well, why not have that person be a woman?" A hot babe in black leather. [laughs] She served two purposes: an agent of expression and eye candy.
You've been master of the G.I. Joe universe for such a long time. Is Snake Eyes where you would've started building the G.I. Joe cinematic universe?
Larry Hama: That's a hard question. I think it would've had to have been a setup for the organization first. But take, for example, the X-Men series. It took them four or five films before they finally figured out that maybe they should concentrate on Wolverine.
I remember, in the eighties as an editor at Marvel, there was a licensing office next door. There was this guy who sat in there, and his entire office is filled with toys and lunch boxes, shampoo bottles, and all this licensed stuff that people had bought licenses for. And I noticed that a third of the room was Wolverine. Wolverine mugs, Wolverine Halloween costumes, Wolverines this and Wolverines that. Numerically, compared to how many of the X-Men characters were not represented - that should tell you something.
I used to get hundreds of hundreds of letters a week from kids when I was writing, and there was overwhelming enthusiasm for Snake Eyes. I read every letter that came in. So I said, "Well, I'm going to give them more Snake Eyes."
You also wrote Transformers vs G.I. Joe. Both properties are from Hasbro, and both properties are under the Paramount banner along with my favorite franchise Power Rangers. Any plans to bring those ideas to the big screen, and would you like to see it happen?
Larry Hama: I don't know. It would not match up because they are divergent fantasies.
I think the Transformer fantasy is in no way near the same as the G.I. Joe fantasy. It was a good idea for a comic hook-up, but I don't know how the narrative would work on the big screen.
Henry Golding and Andrew Koji are amazing as Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, who's really still Tommy at this point. Can you talk to me about what they brought to those respective roles that wasn't necessarily on the page?
Larry Hama: Well, I love the fact that they really made them human. The problem with Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow in the previous two movies was that Storm Shadow was... They hired a K-pop star; they didn't hire an actor. He could make these facial expressions and look angry, but he was not an actor. But with Henry Golding and Andrew Koji, they aren't just action stars. These are actors.
They bring that much more humanity to these characters. That's what's really important. Because it makes you want to relate to those characters rather than be amazed by choreography. Choreography only goes so far. You come back for the characters; you don't come back for the choreography.
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins is currently available on digital and On Demand and will be available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on October 19.