Actor Bradley Cooper has reportedly been cast as Duke, the leader of the G.I. Joe team, in Danny McBride's upcoming live-action reboot for Paramount. The film will not be a Transformers crossover, as previously announced in 2024, and will instead function as a standalone project unrelated to prior G.I. Joe films or the 2021 Snake Eyes origin movie. Deadline and GamesRadar+ confirmed the casting, with McBride expressing long-standing interest in Cooper for the role.
McBride's G.I. Joe reboot marks the third attempt by Paramount to revive the franchise, following 2009 and 2013 films and the 2021 spin-off. The project will not tie into the Transformers series, despite a 2024 post-credits scene in *Transformers: Rise of the Beasts* hinting at a potential crossover. Polygon noted that Paramount had also rejected a pitch from Max Landis earlier in 2026, though no details about the rejected script were provided.
While plot specifics remain undisclosed, McBride described the film as a suspense-driven action project set in Springfield, a fictional town from the G.I. Joe comics that is secretly controlled by the antagonists, Cobra. The movie will not be a comedy, diverging from McBride's usual comedic work. No release date has been announced, with Polygon suggesting the film is likely years away from production.