No Joe?

[packerbacker180]

You know, I never paid those Corps Elite figures much attention because they always seemed cheap. But then I saw on hisstank that the 4 Horsemen were doing "new sculpts" for upcoming figures, and I'll tell you, for the price the new figures aren't far off from Joes. Sure you get a pretty static figure that I toss in the donation bag, and an older figure I usually donate, and a small vehicle along with a cache of guns...for $5 that ain't bad at all. I bought a couple of the brown/orange guy. I might try to paint them more appropriate colors. And the Smoke guy with the white hair, he'd make for a nice General Rey stand in. The only thing they're really missing is a ball joint neck.

[packerbacker180]

Good luck to the studio trying to sell an elite military unit to a generation of teens protesting for gun control!

I've always thought Joes were decent value for the cost, but yeah, I don't know how they sustain an accessory-packed Joe line with great articulation and figures that feel sturdy at a reasonable price. 3.75 figures feel so flimsy now, even at $15.

The Corps Elite stuff is great, though. Love those mech suits!

To heck with them, I say. When they move out of mom and dad's and get real jobs they can fund all the SJW films they want.

I remember someone saying somewhere that that desert scene in the first Transformers movie might be the closest thing we ever see to a GI Joe film. I don't know, there were so many dumb changes in the GI Joe movies that put it on par with the Fantastic Four bombs...Baroness is Duke's ex? Really? C'mon. I've never understood why someone takes something with a history and following and makes alterations to things to fit their vision. Hubris, I guess. Just stay more true to the source material. When you don't you alienate fans, and usually don't create any new ones. I can't imagine anyone going into those Joe films with little knowledge of the characters and saying, yeah, I need tor look into this more. Ugh, I remember going to the first Joe film on opening night and just how terrible it was.

[secondwhiteline]

Challenge. Accepted. I'm going to fill those multiplexes so full of SJW films your head will spin! (Which I guess already happened, because Last Jedi was out months ago.)

I never saw the Joe films. The second one looked like it might be kind of a fun diversion, and probably closer to G.I. Joe than the first one looked like. But I guess the challenge is adapting G.I. Joe in a way that's interesting or vital to people who didn't grow up with it. I mean, you could always just call it Overwatch and it'll do fine...

[packerbacker180]

He'll whine for free stuff,
Where ever there's wifi,
Social Justice Joe is there...

[secondwhiteline]

Zod, this obstinance is exactly why Krypton blew up.

Seriously, G.I. Joe's a tough sell to kids. Modern action stuff is built largely on future tech and a conspicuous lack of straightforward (as opposed to laser or something) guns. Star Wars and Marvel are easier to market, and you can put out cartoons and toys all day long. Not to mention the difficulty of selling a Real American Hero to a foreign market without The Rock being involved. I think more than a big budget movie, they should invest in a series of mature animated stuff for a streaming service. Do some serious Queen & Country style military and espionage stories.

[packerbacker180]

I think we all prefer a silent Non. Now kneel.

I think GI Joe would work better as an episodic drama. With Avengers you can just toss in the core characters and the villain of the week for a film, then move on to the next villain in the next feature. GI Joe is just Cobra, and after one movie what are you left with? Look at Transformers, they defeat Megatron and what's next? They start inventing weird things like the Fallen and whatever the Last Knight was about just to keep putting out movies. GI Joe Resolute was pretty adult oriented. Snake Eyes was slicing people up. The voices were a little jarring since I never watched any Joe toons besides ARAH it was weird hearing new voices.

[secondwhiteline]

No, I totally agree. With an ongoing show you can do big, multi-episode battles, or you can do complicated espionage plots...Just large-scale stuff with a lot of characters and detail. G.I. Joe does kinda require that if it's going to be really engaging. Because a couple movies in, and you end up with Cobra-La.

I know if this is gonna sound CRAZY and UNPRECEDENTED coming from me, but an ongoing G.I. Joe cartoon on, say, Netflix could stand to be a lot like the Ostrander/Yale Suicide Squad. (Or I guess the Larry Hama comic? That seems like a good tone to hit.) But either way I think G.I. Joe is best targeted to a niche, and slightly older audience. You can do intense stuff with it, but still maintain the weirdness of a military squad with on-call ninjas and poetry strongmen.

[AcidDragon]

I was totally thinking live action Joe drama. For some reason, I didn't even consider Netflix. Good call.

[packerbacker180]

Someone told me that The Last Ship is kind of Joe-ish, but I never really got into military dramas. It's not really a genre I eve found interesting. But if they ever made a GI Joe drama I would definitely be all in. And really, I don't see why they couldn't. There are more than enough unique characters on both sides to fill out a show. And a season of plots seems more appropriate to battle something like Cobra, otherwise you get an asinine plot and explosion for the sake of explosions movie that nobody likes. If there are any two franchises that are ripe for a 60 minute "nerd" it would be GI Joe, and the Legion of Superheroes.

[secondwhiteline]

I keep forgetting that The Last Ship is a TNT show, and not that Sting musical that flopped.

Military dramas usually involve people standing around a war room or office talking really seriously. I mean, that can sometimes work, like with any Mandy Patinkin scene in Homeland, but budget issues usually preclude much of interest happening. That's why I'd go with an animated G.I. Joe series. Netflix is even doing that mature audiences Castlevania series, and that's far less known to people than Joe is. (And hey, that one's written by Warren Ellis. Didn't he do G.I. Joe Resolute?)