Check out of the trailer showing at cineplex.com (the older trailer), specifically the description:
http://videos.cineplex.com/All-Videos/1429719089001/G-I-Joe-Retaliation-A-first-look/Video/?page=1%3Ffullsite%3D1&cmpid=mw_facebook_video
Duke teams with Roadblock and Lady Jaye? I am guessing an error, but..........
I'm going to
speculate here, and do so based on two things.......and so much so that on the very slim chance I'm right this could be an inadvertant spoiler, so:
SPOILER?
SPOILER?
SPOILER??
SPOILER??
Okay, so two things: Channing Tatum has been mum about his role and presence in the new Joe movie. Duke's not in it the whole way through, and its BELIEVED Duke dies in the ambush that sets things up that wipes out almost everyone else out. But is he really killed off?
Second thing.....one of the figures just say is a G.I.Joe trooper.........
in a disguise! And a COBRA disguise no less.
It would not be beyond reason that the majority of the Joes law low after the ambush and arrive/reveal themselves at the climax to be the cavalry riding into the rescue--Duke being one of them.
This would fit the usual dramatic beats of the story, set up for a third movie, and keep Duke out of most of the movie, until the end. I also think that the move doesn't necessarily end on a upbeat turn, and that the shot of the COBRA flag and banners being unfurled at the White House is at the end of the film--because its a zoom out--a common cinematic gimmick to step away from a story and transition to the ending.
There's a photo of Roadblock, Colton and Lady Jaye, in a room in a safe house with maps and pistols laid out in front of them. Behind them, standing around the room are other military-type folks. My assumption is that they have gathered a small token force together, but its probably not going to be a huge force like the Joes. If COBRA is going to take over the nation, or at least the seat of power of the nation, then the Joes will need more than just a small force to do this. Having the Joe team, the main team that lays low, reveal itself would gather the manpower at the right moment to do this ( at the climax) and set up the epic battle for dominance in the third movie.
These are my assumptions ( and I have been wrong before) and they are very broad strokes.....but I dunno. I'm not expecting a sophisticated story, and it makes no sense to me to pare down the heroes to nothing with no hope of regaining lost ground in a dire situation. There's an "out" here, waiting in the wings........and we'll see come late June.