In June, we brought you the jubilant news that Dwayne Johnson, aka WWE’s The Rock, has been cast in Jon M. Chu’s G.I. Joe sequel, Cobra Strikes. Johnson (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Snitch) would play Roadblock, the heavy machine gunner, cook, and cousin of Heavy Duty played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje in the first G.I. Joe film.

In an interview with MTV at the premiere of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, producer Lorenzo di Bonventura teased that this sequel focuses on Snake-Eyes and Roadblock and would not disappoint The Rock fans:

“It’s a full-on lead role [for Johnson]. In a way, he and Snake-Eyes, their stories are really dynamic and very important. Rock is such a great character to have in G.I. Joe. It’s an amazing combination. And we would be not very good if we didn’t fully utilize him. He’s going to have a lot of things to do in it.”

With Elodie Yung as Jinx and rapper-turned-actor RZA (The Man with the Iron Fists, Repo Men) cast as Blind Master, who trained both Snake Eyes and Jinx, it’s safe to say that there will be a fair amount of ninja action in this film.

Di Bonventura added:

“The ninja fans are going to love it. There’s a tremendous amount of it. What’s interesting is, we both have that going on in the Snake-Eyes story, but we’ve found a way to bring that element into the Joes’ story.”

In related casting news, the Hollywood Reporter confirms that D.J. Cotrona (Dear John, Windfall), RZA’s fellow cast member in Detroit 1-8-7, has been cast as Flint, “a Joe soldier best known in the toyline and 1980s comics for his shotgun and beret.”

Lorenzo di Bonventura Talks The Rock and Ninjas on G.I. Joe 2

 

As we previously reported, Ray Park (Snake Eyes), Byung-hun Lee (Storm Shadow) and presumably Channing Tatum (Captain Duke Hauser) are so far, the only three returning members of the Joe team from the first film that are attached to the sequel.

The G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes is slated to hit theaters on August 10th, 2012.