A native of South Korea, Byung Hun Lee admits that he grew up in the dark when it came to the pop culture significance of G.I. Joe action figures. But once he landed a role in "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" -- the live-action movie based on the characters in the Joe line -- Lee quickly emerged from the shadows, so to speak, to learn history of the toy and cartoon phenomenon.

In the movie, which opens Friday, Lee plays Storm Shadow, the ninja and supreme martial artist for Cobra, a terrorist organization posing a major threat across the world -- unless the elite military unit G.I. Joe can stop them.

While did his homework on the history of Storm Shadow, Lee said he was encouraged by director Steven Sommers to bring his own spin to the deadly ninja Cobra member in the film; all while maintaining the integrity of the character as written for the 1980s television series.

"I was going to going to watch the whole 'G.I. Joe' series, but Steven didn't want me to do that," Lee said in an @ The Movies interview Wednesday. "I knew I could learn a lot from the show, but still, this is the 2009 version of 'G.I. Joe.' There are a lot of futuristic weapons and (displays of) martial arts in it, so everything is so fresh. Of course, we did study the original character, but also brought something else. They wanted me to be a little more creative with the character."

Hailed as the biggest action star in South Korea, Lee had vast experience in the martial arts coming into "The Rise of Cobra," an element vital when Storm Shadow' faces off against G.I. Joe ninja member Snake Eyes (Ray Park).

Like Park, Lee said that he was allowed to bring infuse his own martial arts sensibilities into the execution of the fight scenes.

"I talked a lot about the choreography with Ray and the stunt guys to make sure there were differences between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes, even though they grew up and learned from the same master," Lee said. "Ray's good at Wu Shu and Kung Fu, which has more flash. For me, I've been learning Tae Kwon Do since I was five years old, which is more simple, but stronger. His style and mine are so different, which made it interesting because we could show some variety of the martial arts."

While Storm Shadow has been mostly identified as a villain in G.I. lore, the examination of his character in "The Rise of Cobra" keys in on his good qualities as well as his bad -- and Lee was thrilled about the possibilities.

"That was the attractive point of the character that helped me decide to do the project," said Lee, whose previous American film credits include "Hero" opposite Jet Li. "The character has some mysterious aspect to him, but the director ended up editing out some of the mystery because I think he wants to reveal more about Storm Shadow in parts two and three."

Of course, you can't do a G.I. Joe movie without becoming a G.I. Joe action figure, and Lee's Storm Shadow is well-represented in creator Hasbro's new line of 3.75-inch and 12-inch toy soldiers. Lee, 39, said that he's been receiving a lot of Storm Shadow figures already from fans and is happy to get caught up in the fun of being an action figure.

And while the likeness of the Storm Shadow figures, sans the masks, are of Lee, the actor said there is one notable difference -- but he's taking the discrepancy lightly.

"Some of them talk -- but they have the voice of different person," Lee said, laughing. "Not me!"