As far as rapper-turned-actors go, you can do a lot worse than RZA from Wu-Tang Clan. Though he hasn't yet had a starring role - we'll have to wait for The Man With The Iron Fists, which he also directed and wrote - his small parts in movies like Funny People, Derailed and American Gangster have shown that he has at least some idea what he's doing. Now it seems that he's ready to enter into real blockbuster territory.
THR reports that RZA and Detroit 1-8-7's D.J. Cotrona are both currently in talks to join the cast of the Jon Chu-directed G.I. Joe 2. Should everything go smoothly, they will join a cast that already includes Channing Tatum, who will return as Duke, and Lee Byung-hun, who will return as Storm Shadow, as well as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Roadblock (who confirmed his casting this morning) and Elodie Yung, who will play the ninja named Jinx. Cotrona will play Flint, a Warrant Officer best known for wearing a beret and rocking a pump shotgun. As for RZA, he will likely be getting his kung fu skills ready again to play Blind Master, who apparently trained both Snake Eyes and Jinx. Set to go into production soon, the sequel is scheduled to be released on August 10, 2012.
As much as I like the new additions to the cast (I think adding Dwayne Johnson to any ailing action franchise is a step in the right direction), the only element that is really getting me excited for G.I. Joe 2 is the fact that the script was written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Zombieland proved that the duo could tackle a simple premise and make it great, while the buzz surrounding their Deadpool script suggests that they have no problem handling a) established comic book characters and b) insane action sequences. Let's just hope that having a director who specializes in dance movies doesn't hurt the production.
