Rumour- Matt Trakker of M.A.S.K. to appear in G. I. Joe 3

There are a few rumours doing the rounds about M.A.S.K. on the internet.  Stories about a new toyline about to be announced to the possibility of a movie, etc.

A new rumour has emerged that Matt Trakker will appear in G. I. Joe 3.  Part of me isn't surprised at this rumour, afterall, there was the Specialist Trakker M.A.S.K./G.I. Joe crossover figure.

However, is this a wise move on the part of Hasbro?

As a M.A.S.K. fan, I'd love for it to come back but I don't think that this is the right way to do it.  Let's think about it logically.

From Hasbro's perspective - it makes perfect sense. They have already introduced Matt into the G.I. Joe fold as an action figure.

Although they own the trademark of "M.A.S.K. - Mobile Armored Strike Kommand" - they do not, as far as I'm aware, own the trademark for "V.E.N.O.M. - Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem".  This provides a problem - without V.E.N.O.M. to fight against, there is no M.A.S.K.!

However, if the M.A.S.K. characters merge into G.I. Joe and the V.E.N.O.M. characters merge into Cobra - problem solved!

So, all of these characters and vehicles that will add value to a G.I. Joe movie - especially as they killed off all of the characters from the first Joe's movie.

But, there is more to it than that.  The first movie was a mixed bag for me.  Overall, I thought it was good.

What I didn't like includes the following - 

•  There was FAR too much CGI.  I'd expected the action to be more real, but the underwater scenes were very much like a cartoon!
• The character of James McCullen/Destro is meant to be Scottish - yet he's played by an Englishman!!!  Ok, Christopher Eccleston is a great actor, but his Scottish Accent is horrendous!
• I didn't think the vehicles fitted into the G.I. Joe Universe, but I'm not an expert.  In fact during the Paris Scene, I felt that the Hummer used by Cobra was very much like Ratfang from M.A.S.K.
• The Accelerator Suits also felt more akin to something from M.A.S.K. than G.I. Joe.
• The biggest problem for me was the ending of the movie that seemed to rip off the ending of Firefox.  Ripcord has to use the Gaelic word for "Fire" instead of Clint Eastwood's character using the Russian for the word.

The Second movie was a vast improvement, and more what I would've expected from the first movie.  It's a shame that they had to kill off all the characters from the first movie.

I guess, therefore, by bringing in M.A.S.K. Characters to the next G.I. Joe movie would help fill in the gaps left by all of the Joe's that have been killed off.  But is there any need?  I believe that there are plenty of Joe's left in that universe that could take up the mantle!

So, why introduce M.A.S.K. Characters?  Is it because Hasbro have realised the mistakes made in the first two and they are hoping to correct it by propping it up with M.A.S.K.?  Or, are they looking to use this as a first step to reintroduce M.A.S.K. and follow it up with it's own standalone movie?

I might be biased but I believe that M.A.S.K. is as current today as it was 30 years ago and if brought out as a standalone movie would far exceed any expectations.

Lets hope that whatever Hasbro do, M.A.S.K. will prevail!

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