It's All Channing Tatum's Fault G.I. Joe 2 Got Delayed

Not a spoiler at this point to reveal Channing Tatum's character Duke (the only non-mask-wearing, kung-fu fighting holdover from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) was supposed to kick the bucket in the opening minutes of G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Don't look at me with those vengeful "Spoiler Alert!" eyes. They gave it away in the trailer!

It might look like a boneheaded call now. But Jon Chu's follow-up was in development before Tatum's career took an upswing with the recent batch of 2012 hits The Vow and 21 Jump Street. We shouldn't forget Dear John from 2010 (First film to unseat Avatar!) or Tatum's good critical notices from Haywire either. Seemed like a good idea on paper to eliminate the perceived weak elements from Rise of Cobra. In this case, everything that wasn't Snake Eyes or Storm Shadow.

Well, two new reports, one from THR, the other "TOLDJA," piggy-back on what AICN's The Kidd reported last week. In the event you were paying attention, amid the craziness of Paramount's call to yank Retaliation from theaters a month till release.

Test audiences got peeved by the lack of Tatum. So those big, 3D-enchaned scenes Dwayne Johnson was referring to last week? Expect more of the Channing One's presence. Too early to tell how far the reshoots (which we hear are already underway) will change what we've come to expect from the barrage of trailers, TV spots, production stills, Hell even poster art for the original June 29th release.

One thing is for certain. Duke will have a pulse at the end.