Henry Golding is still relatively new in his career as a Hollywood leading man, but in what seems like no time at all, he’s gone from fronting romantic comedies to the precipice of becoming a full-on action star. Following his January turn in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, Henry Golding will next star in the G.I. Joe spinoff Snake Eyes. Now, in the first photo from the film, Henry Golding has revealed a glimpse of his enigmatic and ultra-cool ninja. Take a look:
Henry Golding just celebrated a birthday, and rather than asking for a present from us, the rising star opted to give a gift to his fans, offering up this first photo from Snake Eyes, which is currently in production. And how appropriate it is that we don’t see Henry Golding’s face in our first look at the G.I. Joe spinoff movie.
The character of Snake Eyes, who is one of the most enduring and popular characters in the G.I. Joe multimedia franchise that extends back decades, is known for never revealing his face. I imagine that paradigm will be broken in the film itself, like it was for Judge Dredd and Boba Fett before him, but it’s cool that our first look at Snake Eyes is teasing that.
While the first photo from Snake Eyes, revealed by Henry Golding on his Instagram account, preserves some of the mystery of the master ninja, it still provides a very cool look at the movie. Here we see Henry Golding’s character ascending some ancient-looking steps towards what we can only presume to be a temple where he received some of his training. Perhaps it has to do with the Arashikage ninja clan that was part of G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
Snake Eyes is ascending the steps with his sword in tow, and it appears that someone is waiting at the top to greet him, although that could just be a statue and not an actual person. The other thing that’s notable about this photo is that it simply is a really cool looking image.
The composition, the black and white coloring, the mist; it all has an ethereal quality to it. Snake Eyes may be set in the present day, but here the character appears to be visiting a place that is out of time. It has a sort of reverence to it that evokes Beatrix Kiddo going to train under the cruel tutelage of Pai Mei.
The aesthetics of behind-the-scenes photos and promotional images don’t always match up to the look of the film itself, and while I certainly don’t expect Snake Eyes to be in black and white, it would be cool to see Snake Eyes not look just like every other action movie.
Alongside Henry Golding, Snake Eyes stars Andrew Koji as his nemesis Storm Shadow, while Úrsula Corberó steps into the role of The Baronness. Snake Eyes is directed by RED’s Robert Schwentke and is expected to hit theaters on October 23. Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to see what other movies you can look forward to this year.
