The movie just shows him walking into a lab in a random building in a war zone (great location, by the way) and he sees this horrific facial mutilation happening on some video screens, and like a dumb kid at a candy store, he basically goes, "ooooh, evil science! Cool!!! Sign me up to be a bad guy!!" Did he just have no soul to begin with, or what?
shareI'm pretty sure you put more thought into it than the filmmakers did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql3iIHumFIM&list=UUq_S9DFcPhySEcOJ WdcWz2A
This was a hugely crucial and under-developed plot point that more than anything else made the movie preposterous for me.
shareOne can at least hope that at least ONE of the topics being discussed in that writer's room for the proposed Hasbro Cinematic Universe( Which will include thee G.I. Joe movies) will shed light on what exactly made Cobra Commander such a criminal mastermind in the first place, personal choice or brain wash? I don't think the makers really cared, personally, given the rushed production schedule.
shareI suppose it was his fascination for nanotechnology. He tried to obtain it, but Mindbender locked them both in the bunker, and the explosion mutilated him. Mindbender taught him to use it, maybe even used some of it on him. Perhaps he lost his mind. Maybe he wanted to continue Mindbender's work, but couldn't see it developed further through the US government so he turned to terrorism and funded his research through the black market. But over time decided world domination was his next priority.
http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/