Danny McBride’s G.I. Joe Just Got a New Duke — And He's A Very Pissed Off Raccoon

Bradley Cooper is trading teams, going from the Guardians of the Galaxy to the Joes. Cooper has officially signed on to play Duke in Danny McBride’s new G.I. Joe movie for Paramount, giving the franchise a seriously unexpected new field commander.

Cooper is probably the best guy I would’ve hoped for Duke. He’s spent the last decade bouncing between Oscar-heavy dramas and voicing the angriest member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, but American Sniper already proved he can carry a military role, so he’s got some actual street cred before putting on Duke’s fatigues. He’s also following Channing Tatum, who played Duke in both G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and Cooper will hopefully be a damn sight better than Tatum was.

McBride wrote the screenplay with Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri, and Paramount is describing the movie as a fresh take on the Hasbro property. That’s corporate speak for, “We know the shit we did before didn’t really work.” McBride has also said the movie isn’t a comedy, even though putting the guy behind Eastbound & Down and The Righteous Gemstones in charge of G.I. Joe still feels like it could lend itself to a few moments of laughter one would expect.

The story will follow Duke and a group of Joes into Springfield, the innocent-looking town that is secretly controlled by Cobra. Anyone who grew up with the comics knows there’s a lot of fun to be had with that setup, because walking into a town where practically everyone could be working for Cobra gives this thing a very different feel from watching another gigantic military base explode. The concept also sounds a little familiar after the excellent Normal earlier this year, with both stories dropping someone into a town controlled by an evil organization.

McBride has described his approach as grounded, with more suspense and action. He originally wanted to make a movie centered on the Dreadnoks before Paramount asked him to come up with an idea that could relaunch G.I. Joe itself, and Springfield is where he landed.

This also isn’t the G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover Paramount had been developing after Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. The studio has confirmed that the two franchises have been consciously uncoupled, so McBride’s movie gets to concentrate on rebuilding G.I. Joe instead of immediately trying to figure out how Duke is supposed to have a conversation with Optimus Prime.

That also clears up some of the confusion surrounding Chris Hemsworth, who had been attached to the earlier crossover project. Cooper isn’t simply stepping into a Hemsworth role that already existed. This is a different G.I. Joe movie with Cooper specifically playing Duke, and so far Paramount hasn’t announced who else is joining him on the team.

There’s still a lot we don’t know, including who gets to wear Cobra Commander’s dome, but Duke and a group of Joes trapped in a town controlled by Cobra is a fun hook. I just can’t shake the feeling we’ve seen this town before.