'G.I. Joe: Resolute' Premieres, Edgier Than You Remember

Hasbro has released its first batch of episodes for the greatly anticipated animated web series, G.I. Joe Resolute. With the exception of the finale, each episode of the series is being released by Cartoon Network on AdultSwim.com, with the first episode posted online April 17.

The series, penned by comic-book writer Warren Ellis, is a darker, edgier version of the classic cartoon. G.I. Joe: Resolute will aim for a PG-13 rating and try to appeal to older fans who watched the original TV show back in the 80s.

In G.I. Joe: Resolute, Cobra Commander, the leader of the terrorist organization Cobra, gives the world an ultimatum: give him control of every nation on the planet within twenty-four hours or he will destroy those nations. It is up to the super-secret military team, G.I. Joe, to stop Cobra and save the world.

In a post on his blog last July, Ellis mentioned that at least two “probably-beloved” characters will die on the show. Ellis also mentioned another change to the series.

“Cobra Commander isn’t very funny anymore,” said Ellis. “Although, really, given that his uniform includes wearing a bag over his head, there are limits to how unfunny he can be at any given time.”

The show, which was first announced on Ellis’s blog last summer, is a 60-minute story that will be broken up into 11 episodes. The first ten episodes will run for around five minutes each and the finale will run for ten minutes.

Only the first ten episodes will air on AdultSwim.com. At midnight on April 25, the finale will air as part of a special viewing of the show in its entirety on Cartoon Network

. Sample clips for the show were viewed at both G.I. Joe Con and the 2008 Comic-Con in San Diego where it received a standing ovation.

Ellis wrote on his blog about his goals for the show. “The point was to write an hour-long story that really put the property and the characters through some shit changes: as if this were the GI JOE film … and I was rebooting and re-grounding the property on my own,” said Ellis.

The writer is best known for his contributions to the comic-book world where he penned books for several companies including Marvel and DC Comics. He also wrote an episode of Justice League: Unlimited titled “Dark Heart.”

G.I. Joe Resolute was produced by Sam Register and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos.