They’re Doing Another G.I. JOE Movie And This Guy Named Chuckles Is Gonna Be In It

Get ready to Chuckle.

By Aug. 09, 2019

According to The Hollywood Reporter, those incorrigible scamps over at Paramount/Hasbro have decided to put yet another G.I. Joe movie into development, this one to be written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, who you might recall as the screenwriters on Brad Bird's Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol. It joins the already-in-development Snake Eyes movie, and is being referred to as an "ensemble project". 

But that's not the real story here. The real story is that the next G.I. Joe movie will include a character by the name of Chuckles. This element of the story has been met with some degree of excitement over on Twitter, but was mostly just confusing to myself and the rest of the Birth.Movies.Death. staff, none of whom are familiar with a G.I. Joe character named Chuckles.

Well, lemme tell ya: the last time I ran a post dismissive of the G.I. Joe franchise, I was immediately put in my place and told, in no uncertain terms, to knock it off with the G.I. Joe disrespect. With that in mind, I have taken the time to research the background of this "Chuckles" for anyone who isn't intimately familiar with the character.

These are my findings:

  • G.I. JOE NAME: Chuckles
  • REAL NAME: Philip M. Provost
  • RANK: Sergeant E-5
  • PLACE OF BIRTH: Little Rock, AK
  • PRIMARY SPECIALTY: Criminal Investigations
  • SECONDARY SPECIALTY: Intelligence
  • KNOWN FOR: Volunteering for missions no one else wants, doing "hole-and-corner" operations in Ft. Lauderdale (not a euphemism), general likability, exceptional undercover skills, an expert at faking his own death

So, Chuckles is a chatty undercover operative with a talent for trickery, which I imagine involves Chuckles wearing a number of disguises. As you can see in the header photo at the top of this page, Chuckles is generally seen in an unfortunate Hawaiian shirt. Given that his debut appearance occurred in 1987, it seems likely that Magnum P.I. had some degree of influence on his creation. You will note, however, that Chuckles does not have a mustache.

  • MUSTACHE: No

How will Chuckles factor into the new G.I. Joe? Given everything we've learned today, I suspect he'll be deployed as a comic relief character, but really there's no telling when it comes to Chuckles. The man's a chameleon. Maybe he seems to be a comic relief character, but that could be just another of Chuckles' cruelly effective disguises. Very sneaky, that Chuckles.

Anyway, a new G.I. Joe movie's happening, this guy's gonna be in it, and that's all we know for the time being. Stay tuned for further updates as they roll in. And stay sharp out there.

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