Dwayne Johnson to bring his "willingness to do sequels" magic to G.I. Joe: Cobra Strikes

Now that Star Trek 2 looks more and more like a winter release, Paramount is rushing to fill its summer tentpole void with another sequel to a nostalgic reboot—namely G.I. Joe: Cobra Strikes, the follow-up that will hopefully provide some closure to all of the 2009 film’s lingering explosions. Deadline reports that Dwayne Johnson is now circling the project, with the studio hoping he can bring the same sense of reinvigoration that he recently brought to the Fast And Furious franchise, along with the same willingness to accept a paycheck that he’s bringing to the upcoming Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. As with his replacement of Brendan Fraser in the latter, Johnson would be one of several new faces brought in to substitute for everyone who’s leaving after the first film: So far only Channing Tatum, Ray Park, and Lee Byung-Hung are expected to return, as even Joseph Gordon-Levitt has decided that the promise of pun-filled revenge was not enough to reprise his role as Cobra Commander.

Most of those fresh recruits will be playing new characters from the G.I. Joe universe—like Johnson, who is said to be playing machine gunner and amateur chef Roadblock, and may or may not speak in rhyme the way Roadblock did in the cartoon. (Given that the sequel is being directed by Jon M. Chu—of the Step Up series and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never fame—and Johnson’s own musical ambitions, we wouldn’t rule it out.) And Roadblock, of course, also gives an awesome body massage.