iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Put that back in the script lol Anyway. I should get back to actual work.

Even then — and Buzz has these bits in his final script — some Cobra command are like, "Maybe we don't want to live on a planet of monster lizard people?" Tomax and Xamot are entrepreneurs, business jerks. In Buzz's script, they have a running gag about trying to bring capitalism to Cobra-La!

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But something happens by the time Serpentor gets back. All of Cobra is freed. You have to read between the lines, that Cobra-La figured out that Cobra was fed up with CoCo (as seen in the opening scene in the Terror Drome). Let's see that! Let's see Baroness and Destro negotiate with Golobulus!

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That's also why Pythona goes to Zartan and hires him and the Dreadnoks to free Serpentor. The Dreadnoks are not Cobra (something that is easily forgotten). They're mercs and go where the money is, or the giant pink gem.

When they first clash, Cobra-La *captures* all of Cobra, from Destro and Baroness down to Motor Viper #18. Because as far as Cobra-La knows, they're loyal to Cobra Commander, a guy they are very much planning on executing via spore in a few minutes. That's why you see all of Cobra rounded up.

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This is something Buzz does in the script that I really love. Buzz writes cartoon toy characters at the top of his/their intelligence. There is an internal logic in GI Joe that holds it all together, and how Cobra-La treats Cobra is such a great example of it.

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Major Bludd, Firefly, Scrap Iron, Wild Weasel, Copperhead, and *Storm Shadow* are mostly MIA. I don't know -- what if there's a side quest wherein Stalker and Storm Shadow, former Army buds, have to put aside differences and team-up? Because y'know, Cobra's relationship with Cobra-La is wild.

The movie is already packed at 90 minutes, but with another hour, maybe there's something Stalker can do. Some side quest. Maybe he flies solo. Maybe he takes Rock N Roll and Breaker with him? There's also potential with the missing Cobra characters!

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The other big thing is, if it's a series finale, you have to go back and honor the beginning. Duke gets a big role in this, and Scarlett and Snake Eyes have roles that can be built upon. The big omission from the OG Joe cast is Stalker, who is in the movie for like 5 seconds in a crowd scene.

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I think there has to be more they can do, re: their failed escape attempt. Or even their initial capture. Or while they're wrapped up in the Carnal Trees. I don't know what lol but that's a problem for my anxiety brain to think about instead of spiraling about my ruined life lol

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I think there's a lot more to do with the initial captured Joes, especially because Lady Jaye, Shipwreck, Roadblock, and Snake Eyes are in that group and you can't close out the saga of Sunbow GI Joe without giving all of them something to do.

The other big area of improvement with GI Joe: The Movie, is giving the classic Joes more to do. There's absolutely a lot there to work with, particularly with Flint's search and rescue mission. Lady Jaye is *missing*! His *girlfriend*! Is *that* why he is so gung-ho (pardon the pun) to go?

Anyway, this is where my brain was as I was falling asleep last night. I've always loved Falcon (he's cool to kids) and as an adult I see that he is a VERY unlikeable character. But I think you can do stuff to make him deeper. MAYBE I WILL WRITE FAN FIC.

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And then it's not until he sees how, despite being on a self-destructive streak as a Joe, no Joe leaves him behind. He's unique because he's a Joe, a Rawhide, and a Renegade. Multiple, smaller found families all rallying around this dum dum, trying to make him see that he's valued. And Duke dies!

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It's like how in Hallmark movies, the big city kids are always pressured to come back and run the family bakery. So the Falcon we see in the movie is grieving his and Duke's late mother and acting out because he's somewhere he doesn't want to be, or being a Joe reminds him of his mom. I dunno!

There's a LOT to work with there. I think you can absolutely redeem Falcon as a character by expanding on Duke's line — "I promised our mother I'd look after you," paraphrasing. What if Falcon only took a demotion and joined the Joes because of family expectations, and then his mother dies.

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Also, like, Cobra-La treating Cobra Commander and Serpentor as — Succession style — heirs to the family business (of world domination). CC is a failure, but Serpentor is the golden child. Serpentor even gets a "you're NOT the father" moment with Golobulus and Mindbender!

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There is SO MUCH familial imagery throughout the movie, too. The way the Renegades all share a meal, how Duke calls to check up on Falcon, Slaughter's "we all go home or nobody goes home." Beach Head's role as, like, cranky uncle to the Rawhides. Scarlett cradling a dying Duke.

The protagonists are Falcon and Cobra Commander, each misfits in their families — including found families (GI Joe, Cobra leadership) and biological (Duke, Cobra-La). They are put on *trial* by their families. They both go through a real crucible and come out on the other end heroes.

The major thing is THEME, because once I realized what the theme of GI Joe: The Movie is, it blew my mind. And I have no idea if @buzzdixon.bsky.social intended this. But the movie is about *family*, the push and pull we have with those closest to us, the sacrifices.

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(This is what my brain does to relax. I miss writing fiction and thinking about character and story etc.) I think the movie has a LOT of points of potential divergence that would enrich it, give the larger Joe cast a lot to do.

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As a mental health escape/remedy/distraction, I spend some time doing the absolutely pointless mental exercise of what if GI JOE: THE MOVIE (1987) added 60 minutes, was written as a *series* finale, and freed from all toy commercial constraints. But the core 90 minutes does not change.

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Very this. We are ambitious and ready, but we need money to do, uh, everything! It's a catch-22: we need money to make things happen, but you need things for your money. And we are ad and AI free, no seo or ceos, and that makes it tough. popheist.com/products

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Ken Plume @kenplume.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Was just thinking earlier today how 90% of commercials are forgettable and vertically shot with amateur lighting and sound just because .... that's what things are now. Bland, colorless, cold, pointless.

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Reposted by Brett White

A plea that we return to a golden age when NEARLY EVERY SINGLE PRODUCT could have a bespoke song in their ads LOVINGLY CRAFTED BY HUMAN BEINGS....

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I'm trying to make a guide of Halloween sitcom episodes, about 150 entries, for @popheist.com, but my darn mental health keeps getting in the way. But it's the same mental health that has me trying to write about 150 sitcom episodes so, win some, lose some.

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Star-Lord is probably my favorite man in the MCU (until Daredevil was folded in) and Chris Pratt, makes it so hard.

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Wow it's crazy how Robert Urquhart in Curse of Frankenstein is actually the sexiest man in all of horror and we all accept that as undeniable truth

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Hey writers — any suggestions for article backup archive services, that preserve your work? I’m using one now but $180 all at once for another year is steep.

🎃 Matthew Jack-o'-lantern 🎃 @awalrusdarkly.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Reposted by Brett White

Friends, the Heistoween fun is still just beginning over at @popheist.com. We've got daily posts up for free and for paid subscribers, all ad-free, worked-owned, and unmarred by algorithms and private equity. Subscribe and support independent pop culture journalism for just *7 Bucks a Month.*

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In lieu of hosting a new Halloween video for 2026, here's this.

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Reposted by Brett White

i'm like a vampire but instead of craving blood i crave dignity

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