Here's why despite being the lead of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Channing Tatum's Duke dies after a brief appearance in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Directed by Stephen Sommers, the first G.I. Joe movie did not receive a positive critical response but earned over $300 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of $175 million. It also got four Teen Choice Award nominations, and Channing Tatum even won the Choice Movie Actor: Action award for his portrayal of Duke in the movie.
In the 2013 sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Channing Tatum reprised his role as Duke alongside Dwayne Johnson's Roadblock. However, in a strange twist of events, G.I. Joe: Retaliation killed Duke in its opening scenes, making audiences curious about the behind-the-scenes creative decisions that led to his sudden departure from the movie franchise. In recent years, Channing Tatum has opened up about his experience working on G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and explained why Duke's journey in G.I. Joe: Retaliation was short-lived.
Channing Tatum Only Agreed To Come Back If He Died
In a lie detector test (via Vanity Fair), Channing Tatum confessed that he was not keen on playing Duke in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and had ed up on the role seven times before he agreed to take it. The Magic Mike star also stated that he hates the movie and was forced to do it after being threatened with legal charges. Owing to his dissatisfaction with the first G.I Joe movie and his experiences before taking the role, Channing Tatum "asked to be killed off in the first ten minutes of the movie." The studio complied with his request and eradicated Duke in the opening moments of G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
Why Channing Tatum Hated G.I. Joe
In another interview (via Howard Stern), Channing Tatum also said that since he had "been a fan of" the G.I. Joe franchise since he "was a kid" and "didn't want to do something that was bad," his dissatisfaction with the movie's script made him want to back off from the movie adaptations. He also recalled he had signed a three-picture deal with Paramount Pictures during the early days of his acting career but was apprehensive about playing Duke in G.I. Joe after reading the script. To his dismay, since he had officially agreed to play Duke, he did not have a choice, which turned his relationship with the movie series all-the-more sour.
Channing Tatum was also initially eying the role of Snake Eyes, who he loved as a kid. Unfortunately, the studio did not see eye to eye with his vision and wanted him to lead the G.I. Joe series as Duke. The actor even itted that he was surprised by the G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra's impressive box office numbers. However, given how he still wanted Duke to die in G.I. Joe: Retaliation's first few minutes, the first movie's commercial success was not enough to make him reconsider his role in the franchise.
Sources: Vanity Fair, Howard Stern
