After the box-office success of this year’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Jon M. Chu is currently hard at work with screenwriter Evan Daugherty (Snow White and the Huntsman, Divergent) developing the story for the as-yet-untitled G.I. Joe 3. The director has previously discussed the possibility of Rachel Nichols’ Scarlett returning after sitting out the second movie, and now he’s been speaking the chances of another character returning for the third movie, teasing a resurrection for Channing Tatum’s Duke after his demise early on in Retaliation.
“You never know,” Chu tells MTV when asked about the chances of Tatum’s character returning from the dead. “Storm Shadow [Byung-hun Lee] died in the first one and came back in the second one, and then other characters have died and never come back. The G.I. Joe world, the best thing about it is you never know who’s coming back and who’s not.”
Since G.I. Joe: Retaliation went into production way back in 2011, Tatum’s star has risen considerably thanks to the likes of The Vow, 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike, so it wouldn’t be at all surprising if Paramount tried to bring Duke back into the franchise. And of course, it wouldn’t be the first time the character has returned from the dead, with 1987’s G.I. Joe: The Movie being reedited to have Duke “slipping into a coma” after being fatally stabbed by Serpentor.
Would you like to see Tatum back for G.I. Joe 3? Let us know in the comments below….
Originally published December 16, 2013. Updated November 28, 2022.
