Who is Destro now?

Allow me to expound on that unbearably clever headline: British actor Christopher Eccleston, one of many guys who has played DR. WHO, is now going to wear the polished mask of G.I. JOE foe Destro.

Yes, the part of the international mercenary had reportedly been filled by a stage actor named David Murray, but that guy apparently has absolutely shit luck — the story is he couldn’t get a visa to travel for the project (it starts filming today), and the role needed to be quickly recast. Fortunately for the production, Eccleston was available and seems to currently have either low standards or a new Aston Martin he’s been eyeballing, so he agreed to the easy paycheck.

The G.I. JOE movie is being directed by THE MUMMY wrangler Stephen Sommers, and actually has assembled a fairly interesting and diverse cast (although I think we’d all rather pretend Marlon Wayans isn’t involved). With the strike all but settled, the script will likely now be thoroughly rewritten during the course of production (I’m guessing).

While he’s probably best known to American audiences for his role on HEROES, Eccleston has fared far better when simply avoiding Hollywood films (as a point of reference, compare GONE IN 60 SECONDS and THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING to 28 DAYS LATER, OTHELLO and ELIZABETH).