Snake Eyes: Henry Golding On Launching New G.I. Joe Franchise (Exclusive)

The Movie

ComicBook.com: If today's new trailer taught me anything, it's that you as Snake Eyes can take a beating!

Henry Golding: That's the story we love. We want to see the man grow into that weapon. So you've got to take a few punches along the way.

CB: An opening scene like that, it just sets a tone that Snake Eyes going to be pretty gritty. This is going to be a pretty raw movie. Is that accurate? What would you say is the tone here?

HG: 100%. We see Snake Eyes becoming the guy that we all know, the sword master, the ninja, but to be that guy, he's got to go through a lot of tough lessons. He's got to get hit and keep picking himself up. But the actions is nonstop. We get to a stage, where in the final sort of act, we're on a ticking clock. And all our heroes are trying to converge to defeat whatever it is that we're coming up against, but it feels just so ... The pace is amazing, and it just gets your heart rate pumping.

CB: I just bought my tickets. I'm ready. Right after that opening scene, we see your character rescue Tommy, the character known as Storm Shadow. I'd love to hear from you where that relationship is at the beginning of the movie!

HG: Yeah. At the beginning of the movie is the initial meeting of Snake and Tommy. And there's something that happens between them, because this unspoken bond, which I think they both realize right at the beginning. Can't giveaway exactly in what particular situation they find themselves in, but it's one that Snake does save his ass from, and so sort of endears him in the beginning.

And of course, we all know Tommy comes from the Arashikage, and he gives the chance to turn around Snake's life. He is a man down in the dumps. We find him as a lowly kind of street urchin. No better description, but a man who's sort of plodding through life with very negative, I suppose, missions and kind of very mistaken goals. So we slowly see that change is something much more purposeful.

Becoming Snake

CB: It seems like that change is going to come through that three challenge trial. Can you talk about what those three challenges are like and what it was like to experience them yourself?

HG: Now you're killing me, brother! The three challenges are the warriors challenges, and they are meant to test the fortitude, not only of someone mentally, but to test the heart, their strength and their overall willingness to sacrifice themselves. So I won't tell you exactly what they are, but that is pretty much what they're summed to be.

CB: At the end of the trailer, we get the money shot with the full costume is on. Talk to me about just wearing it! Was that all practically there?

HG: Everything in the suit is practically there. It's amazing artistry by phenomenal costume makers, and it took so long for them to piece it together and so many sort of forms of making sure that it fits exactly as it should, especially as sort of the helmet piece. There's only one way in and one way out of that then. I've got a big head, so there's not many people that are going to be able to fit in that thing. And it's so close-fitting, because we wanted that nimbleness. A lot of helmets have sort of a bulk to it, but we wanted to make sure that the helmet was as slim profile and as shapely towards sort of my head as possible. "Claustrophobic" is definitely a word I would use, particularly in the beginning, of putting it on and not being able to take it off in time. But it was very, very cool to be looking through the visor and walking around. So yeah, it was definitely a memory.

CB: It looks so good. It must just come with like an inherent swag, as soon as you put it on. You're just like, "Yeah, I'm him. He's me. I'm Snake."

HG: Yeah. You walk a little taller, with a little bit more swag and people tend to move out of the way. Yeah.

The Prep

CB: I also talked to Storm Shadow actor Andrew Koji. He told me one of the most complex things he had to learn was the sword play. I would love to hear from you the training element of that. How much work did you really have to put into that?

HG: Yeah, we were four hours a day, with the stunt team, all in buildup to getting us on set, ready and prepared. Things change, as you know, when we get on set. Environments really dictate how much we're able to do from what we've learned in the studio in comparison to being on the edge of a car carrier, or standing on top of the building, in a rain sequence. So you have to be at a stage and capability of being able to change up on-the-go as quickly as possible and learn new choreography within five minutes. And thankfully, all of that two months of pre-training got us to that stage.

CB: I know you've become very familiar with this character and the GI Joe lore. Have you fantasized about or do you have a wishlist of things you want to see or do with other characters and stories if we get more beyond this movie?

HG: After this movie, we find ourselves yearning and wanting more. We want to see how this story unfolds. So all I can say is that I want to see this story to the end, and I don't think it will even end at that point, because there's just so much more that we can explore. And we got to think that this is such a macro view of an entire universe from the GI Joe. This is one origin story. We have so many that can be told and one aspect of one little corner of the space. So the possibilities are endless, but I can tell you where I want this to go. We at least have three of these films to look forward, to make sure that he gets the story that he deserves.

CB: I love that, man. I'm ready to see Timber with you in one of these films, dude!

HG: Me too, bro. Where and when are we going to find him? That's the question.