Much as I love the revamp of G.I. Joe for the /80s, it's also very locked into its setting. A lot of the characters were in VietNam, and the experiences soldiers have had in more recent wars have not been at all like that. From the widespread protests and lack of support back home to the way captives were treated by their captors. About the only real way to do the story and characters justice is to do it as a Cold War, Reagan-era period piece.
It also needs to be played utterly straight, like Hama did, and not camp, the way the cartoon skewed. Most of the first run's lineup were active-duty military in uniform, and their "code names" more like nicknames. Duke, Flint, Doc, Lady Jaye, Beachhead, Leatherneck, Shipwreck, Wild Bill, Breaker, Grunt, Zap, Rock'n'Roll, Steeler, Hawk, Stalker, Ripcord, Cutter, Footloose, Dusty... And most of the rest wear "uniform-ish" outfits -- nonstandard shirt, extra padding or protective gear, etc. -- or protective gear like a wetsuit or flamesuit. There are only a couple from about the first half of the 1982-'92 run that were truly "out there"... though for the latter half of the run, things definitely started getting weird.