Adrianne Palicki, the former Friday Night Lights cast member and star of the preemptively-axed NBC revival of Wonder Woman has joined the GI Joe sequel to play the Joe team’s sexy covert-ops specialist, Lady Jaye.
Palicki will join the growing cast for the Jon Chu-directed sequel to 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, among new cast members like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who will be playing the machine gun-toting, gumbo-cooking Roadblock, and rapper The RZA for a still-unspecified role. However, it is with D.J. Cotrona, who will be playing Flint, which Palicki will likely be having the most interaction, since their characters are known to be romantically-linked in just about every version of the G.I. Joe canon.
As of now, star, Channing Tatum is locked to return as Duke. Ray Park’s Snake Eyes, and Byung Hun-Lee’s Storm Shadow are back, as well. Yet, the franchise has had to overcome a lukewarm reception, “okay” box-office receipts, some Razzie nominations (with a “win” for Sienna Miller), and a large degree of disappointment from the fanbase.
Additionally, the sequel’s selection of director, Jon Chu who’s best known for the Step Up sequels and teen idol documentary, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never has also left naysayers with more ammunition. Yet, the worst publicity hit would be a critical exodus, which saw director, Stephen Sommers and stars, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Sienna Miller bow out. (Thus, Cobra Commander and Baroness will need to be recast.)
However, despite the fact that this franchise hit more than its share of rough patches, it seems to fight on. The script by Zombieland scribes, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick will likely avoid the pitfalls of Rise of Cobra. Plus, with rumblings that Bruce Willis may join the cast as Joe Colton, the black-bearded, titular character for the original G.I. Joe toy line, things may indeed be looking up.
