Warning! Spoilers ahead for Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins might have been better had it actually been an origin story for Storm Shadow. While the film followed Henry Golding's Snakes Eyes with a rebooted origin that explored his past and background prior to joining the ranks of G.I. Joe, the story behind his sword-brother Tommy Arashikage proved to be more dynamic compared the typical story of vengeance Snake Eyes' origins fell into. Played by Andrew Koji, the origins of the future Storm Shadow and rival to Snake Eyes definitely seems more engaging and certainly worth exploring.
Directed by Robert Schwentke, Snake Eyes begins with its titular hero as a child, witnessing his father being killed by an unknown man. Dedicated to finding his father's killer, Henry Golding's Snake Eyes joins the Yakuza under the employ of a man named Kenta, who promises his help in finding the killer in exchange for Snake Eyes' services to infiltrate the Arashikage clan from which Kenta had been banished. Gaining the trust of Tommy Arashikage, Snake Eyes was soon brought to the Arashikage clan where he began training to become a ninja. However, the inevitable turning point came when Snake Eyes chose to abandon his lifelong quest for revenge, letting go of his anger and becoming a true member of the Arashikage by the film's end.
All in all, despite Snake Eyes' stacked cast, the character's origin is fairly standard, carrying some clichés as a tale of vengeance. However, Andrew Koji's T0mmy Arashikage proved to have more intriguing dynamics. Born into the Arashikage clan, it was Tommy's destiny to one day become the leader of the clan, being the last of his bloodline. In preparation, Tommy believed the clan needed to adapt in an ever-evolving world, hence his recruitment of Snakes Eyes despite being an outsider. That being said, Snake Eyes' initial deception allowed Kenta to get his hands on the clan's sacred sun jewel. During the battle to reclaim it, Tommy used the sun jewel's power to try and destroy Kenta, giving into a barely-contained rage. By using the jewel, Tommy broke the clan's laws and he was subsequently robbed of his destiny, forbidden to ever lead the Arashikage clan. As a result, Tommy left the clan and later joined the terrorist organization Cobra, taking the name Storm Shadow.
Clearly, Tommy had several more strong dynamics going on in his past and present than Snake Eyes did, and it would have been incredibly interesting to see how Storm Shadow was trained. While his grandmother was the leader of the Arashikage clan during the film, she is the only blood relative of Tommy's seen aside from Hard Master played by Iko Uwais. A potential origin film for Storm Shadow could have revealed what happened to the rest of his family. Furthermore, it could have also provided a deeper context for his rage that was barely buried under the surface as well as the pressures and complexities of having his destiny chosen years in advance before it was taken from him, setting up events for potential future Snake Eyes sequels.
Furthermore, it didn't help that Andrew Koji was arguably the more magnetic actor between himself and Henry Golding's Snake Eyes. All focus was inevitably pulled to Koji no matter what scene Storm Shadow was in, regardless of the fact that the origin story was primarily about Henry Golding's character. As a result, one has to wonder if a "Storm Shadow: Cobra Origins" story would have been the better origin story to go with, rather than the one depicted for the future Joe in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.
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