Follow Us for the Chance to Win a ‘Snake Eyes’ Prize Pack

It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins here at The NOC. And to celebrate the movie’s release, we’re giving away free tickets and Snake Eyes-branded apparel! And all you have to do is follow us on social and subscribe to our channel — where we’ve been posting awesome Snake Eyes content!

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NOC Review: ‘Snake Eyes’ is a Win for the ‘G.I. Joe’ Franchise

Disclaimer: I would like to apologize in advance to everyone out there who is a huge G.I. Joe fan, because you’re about to read a review from someone who isn’t a hardcore fan. I have heard mixed things about the film from a hardcore fan perspective, and I know some of the fans aren’t happy the mythology was changed. I would like you to know that if that’s the case, I’ve been there.

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NOC Exclusive: Meet Akiko, Played by Haruka Abe in ‘Snake Eyes’

In one week, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins hits theaters everywhere, and Paramount is introducing each of the main characters via these short video promos. The NOC is proud to be the first place you get to see and hear Haruka Abe in action as one of the Arashikage’s deadliest warriors: Akiko!

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‘Snake Eyes’ to Kick Off Comic-Con @ Home & Fan Premiere Screenings

Comic-Con @ Home 2021 is upon us! The annual International convention is in its second (and, hopefully, final) year going virtual. To kick off the event, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins will have a panel, hosted by Mari Takahashi, featuring special content from the film, behind-the-scenes footage, and exclusive interviews with stars Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Úrsula Corberó, Samara Weaving, Haruka Abe, Takehiro Hira, Peter Mensah, Iko Uwais, and writer of the G.I. Joe comics, Larry Hama.

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Artist DRAGON 76 Teams Up with Paramount for Limited Edition ‘Snake Eyes’ Poster

With Paramount Pictures’ Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins introducing the world to the ninja behind the mask of the beloved G.I. Joe character, it made sense for Paramount Pictures to work with Asian artists to create one-of-a-kind works of arts to celebrate the film. New York-based, Japanese artist DRAGON 76 released a special limited edition Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins character poster for this week’s ComplexLand, which takes place virtually from June 16-18.

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‘Snake Eyes’ Releases Eight Character Posters

As the film release draws closer, Paramount Pictures has released eight new character posters from the anticipated action film, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. Starring Henry Golding as the title character, Snake Eyes is a legendary soldier from G.I. Joe whose origins were never revealed, until now.

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Actions Speak Louder than Words: Henry Golding on Being ‘Snake Eyes’

Few comic book characters mean more to me than G.I. Joe’s resident Ninja Commando. Created by Larry Hama and based on the Hasbro action figure designs, Snake Eyes wasn’t just my favorite action figure, he unlocked my imagination as a child. A silent warrior with a classified name and background meant that anyone could be beneath that iconic all-black mask. So for years, Snake Eyes looked like me until the comics eventually revealed the man underneath was yet another white-guy-who-happens-to-be-best-Asian.

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‘Snake Eyes’ Teaser and Featurette Introduce Henry Golding as the Iconic G.I. Joe

During the MTV Movie and TV Awards, Paramount Pictures released a teaser of the anticipated action film, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. Directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Henry Golding as Snake Eyes, a tenacious loner who is welcomed into an ancient Japanese clan called the Arashikage after saving the life of their heir apparent. Upon arrival in Japan, the Arashikage teach Snake Eyes the ways of the ninja warrior while also providing something he’s been longing for: a home. But, when secrets from his past are revealed, Snake Eyes’ honor and allegiance will be tested — even if that means losing the trust of those closest to him.

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‘Snake Eyes’ Poster Offers a Silent Interlude Before the Trailer

We are so close to seeing a trailer for Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins! To whet our appetites, Paramount has unveiled the first official one-sheet for the film, featuring Henry Golding in all his Ninja Commando splendor against the backdrop of the iconic Arashikage hexagram!

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Get Over Here… and Watch the Opening of ‘Mortal Kombat’

In anticipation of the film’s theatrical and streaming release on Friday, April 23, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema have released the opening seven minutes of Mortal Kombat, the reboot of the famed 1995 adaptation of the legendary fighting game. Watch it below in all its gory glory:

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Prepare for ‘Mortal Kombat’ with the New Trailer

It’s finally here! Warner Bros and New Line unleashed the first official trailer for Mortal Kombat! And with every blood-soaking, bone-snapping moment, they’ve made it clear that this is the uber-violent gore fest that we never got in the original campy (yet classic) 1995 film! This is the R-rated brutality initially promised to us when we first picked up the controllers to our Sega Genesis and selected our fighters! And I guarantee, that’s something so many of us have been waiting so long to finally see! And at long last it is finally here. So prepare yourself… for Mortal Kombat!

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Get Over Here, Character Posters from ‘Mortal Kombat’

T-Minus 18 hours until the trailer drops for the Mortal Kombat reboot, and WB has revealed more character posters than Shang Tsung has souls! The character posters are our first glimpse at characters like Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Kung Lao, Kano, Sonya Blade, Mileena, and more! The motion posters are all on Twitter and look really epic, like this one of Scorpion:

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Test Your Might with These New Images from ‘Mortal Kombat’

We’re getting a Mortal Kombat reboot this year folks! That’s right! From producer James Wan, and directed by newcomer, Simon McQuoid, the latest and greatest adaptation of everyone’s favorite gore and blood-filled fighting game franchise is hitting theaters and HBO Max April 16, 2021!

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An N.O.C. Halloween: Our Children’s Edition

Amongst my friends and family, it is no secret that the only holiday I care about is Halloween. No, it isn’t just because the candy is free and flowing — although this is a huge bonus. What I love the most about he holiday is that there is this unbridled demonstration of ingenuity, creativity, and imagination. People get to step a little outside of their mundane lives and step into the realm of the fantastic.

Another thing I love are the costumes. I don’t think I’m alone in this, especially amongst my fellow NOC. While many of us were too busy to dress up, we made sure that our children did.

I would like to present to you the NOC Parade of Costumes: Our Children’s Addition.

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Racist Like Daredevil with this One Weird Tip!

So.

I can’t say what I would have to say about the orientalism in Daredevil Season Two any better than Arthur Chu, so I will leave you to read that and bristle at will.

My thought process upon reading about Daredevil killing Nobu and not counting it as killing a person went as follows:

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Not Your Asian Ninja: How the Marvel Cinematic Universe Keeps Failing Asian Americans

Originally posted at The Daily Beast

I liked Daredevil Season 2 a lot. I didn’t like it quite as much as Season 1, but it was always going to be impossible to find someone to live up to Vincent D’Onofrio’s take on Wilson Fisk (who still effortlessly steals the few scenes he gets this season). But the writing and the acting for Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, is compelling as hell, enough to spark a lively debate about the appeal of vigilante justice and gun violence in American culture.

The tangled, messy web of corruption behind the death of the Punisher’s family, the complicity of the state and the media in creating him, his turnaround in becoming a criminal defendant in the Trial of the Century, and the moral ambiguity of Castle’s past as a soldier who exposes the American public’s hypocrisy by bringing the brutal logic of the overseas War on Terror stateside — that’s all great stuff.

The problem is all that great stuff is only half of Daredevil Season 2. There’s a whole other half that’s almost totally disconnected from the Frank Castle plot, the Nelson and Murdock law firm, and New York City politics. There’s a full 50 percent of Daredevil Season 2 that’s total crap, and that half is the part with the ninjas.

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Elodie Yung is Elektra in Daredevil Season Two

Last night, the trades broke the news that Marvel Studios had finally cast Elektra for the second season of Daredevil, which is currently in production in New York City. G.I. Joe: Retaliation star Elodie Yung will be taking up the sais opposite Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock when the series returns to Netflix next year.

That’s right, Elektra will be portrayed by a mixed race Cambodian actress! Does this mean an Asian American Danny Rand is still in the cards? We shall see. In the meantime, holy shit Elektra is Asian!

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NOC Recaps Daredevil: Ninja Nobu! Ninja? No. Boo.

Ninja fight! Maybe you didn’t get that, let me clear my throat: FUCKING NINJA FIGHT!!!!!! I feel like I’m 12 again. One aspect of this episode I loved and found very original was the use of the ninja battle as the tie that binds. Though the ninja fight scenes are one complete fight, they are broken up chronologically and are stuck between all the other subplots. So essentially, the fight itself becomes not just a fight, but its own overarching subplot. Very cool. Credit due to the director Nick McCormick (The Good Wife), Silvera, and crew for a new take on the use of and cutting of a fight scene.

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Black Mask, Yellow Peril: Anti-Asianism in Netflix’s Otherwise Brilliant ‘Daredevil’

by Takeo Rivera

So let’s get one thing out of the way: it’s probably safe to say that Marvel and Netflix’s Daredevil is the finest piece of television ever made in the superhero genre. With its stellar cast and consistently tight writing and direction, the show can easily go toe-to-toe with any other major serialized TV drama in this golden age of Mad Mens and Breaking Bads, elevating superherodom to an unequivocal status of high art in much the way Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica elevated the space opera. And, as a cherry on top, Daredevil happens to be one of the most progressive shows of the genre; in particular, Matt Murdock battles not some alien Super-Wario intent on blowing up the planet with an ancient glowing Rubik’s cube, but a scion of urban “redevelopment” — read gentrification — in Wilson Fisk, and spends an unhealthy time fighting white collar crime and community displacement by punching the crap out of it.

But Daredevil also has one massive problem: Asians. That is, Asians are the problem, and Daredevil’s problem is that Asians are a problem.

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