Top 5 Things We Want To See In The Live-Action Metal Gear Solid Movie

There Had Better Be Plenty Of SNAAAAAKE!

According to sources, the Metal Gear Solid adaptation is indeed moving along, with the likes of Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts showing an admirable amount of commitment to the project. Hopefully he is just a big of a fan as we are, he certainly speaks highly of Kojima’s work.

“It’s something that I chased,” Vogt-Roberts acknowledges about the long simmering project. “I chased after that years ago. I put together a bible, I put together like a 60-page book breaking down what Metal Gear is, how video game adaptations have failed, and the difference between the active experience of playing a game and the passive experience of watching a movie. How you translate Metal Gear, how you protect it.”

On the subject of momentum on Metal Gear over the last few months, Vogt-Roberts reflects, “Basically I was able to go [to Sony] post-Kong, and I love our producers [and] our execs at Sony… but I was able to go in and be very honest with Sony, and say, ‘We’ve all been partners on this for a while, but here’s what Metal Gear needs to be, and here’s the version I want to make. And if you don’t want to make this version, then I’m not your guy, even though I spent three years of my life trying to shepherd this project, and there’s no project more important on the planet to me than this.’”

Vogt-Roberts credits producer Avi Arad for understanding what he is trying to really do with a movie based on the tragic life of Kojima’s anti-hero, Solid Snake.

“It’s like, fundamentally, Metal Gear is about the cycle of pain and it’s about this fucked up weird family soap opera, and it’s about ideologies, and it’s about characters and philosophies. And it’s about playing with tone and it’s about so many different things. But a lot of those things are conceptual ideas. So I was able to go in and say, and have that moment to say, ‘Here’s what it needs to be, if you don’t want to do this version, just say so now and let’s split paths.’ But with Kong being what it was in a post-Logan, Deadpool world, they all kind of said, ‘Okay.’ Let’s make the version that I have pitched.”

All the power to him, as the franchise that chronicles the world-saving missions of badass super-spy Snake contains some of the greatest video games of all time. Detailed history, insanely awesome boss battles, some truly dark themes and a set of protagonists that continue to suffer for their country, Metal Gear has it all.

So we’ve compiled together a list of the top five things we want to see in what we pray is a successful adaptation.

#5: Stick To One Game

It sounds obvious, but if you look at the likes of the upcoming Tomb Raider movie, that appears to be blending together 2013’s Tomb Raider with 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider into a single entity. That won’t work for Metal Gear. There’s just too much. We’d say stick with the original Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, as each are their own beasts that provide great origins for their respective Snakes.

#4: Keep The History

Maybe not to the extent that Otacon does, but make the film feel like it has real world ties. Bring up the cold war, bring up the threat of nuclear warfare, use it to make Snake feel like he’s a true and trained soldier as opposed to some generic action hero who goes in guns blazing.

#3: Keep The Stealth

The description is tactical espionage action, so you had better make sure there are stealth sections in the movie. Obviously no audience wants to wait three hours just to see Snake sneak past one guard, but be creative with his penchant for slipping by and getting the drop on enemies. Be creative with it and make it so even we don’t know where he is. Oh, and that goes double for the cardboard box.

#2: Embrace The Boss Fights

And on that note, embrace the absurdity of it all! Give us a trippy Psycho Mantis mind-bend of a battle, an exciting dual with Sniper Wolf, fighting Liquid Snake on top of a burning Metal Gear Rex, all of the Cobras! Give it all to us in spades and in earnest, and the audience will go right along for the ride.

#1: Develop Snake

If we’re going to be spending a couple of hours with him as he sneaks around and shoots down villains, we have to feel invested with this version of Snake. He won’t have David Hayter’s or even Kiefer Sutherland’s iconic voice, so cast an actor who can really win us over in a short amount of time. Also, don’t be afraid to make him more than a gruff veteran! Snake jokes around too!