Transformers And GI Joe Making A Crossover Movie?
Transformers: Rise of the Beast teases a G.I. Joe cross-over movie.
Both G.I. Joe and Transformers are well-known properties that are originally based on Hasbro toy lines. Both properties have had films based on them, but the two franchises have remained largely separate (at least in the cinematic universe). However, the end scene of the latest Transformers film, Rise of the Beasts, hints that a future crossover is on the way.
At the end of the latest Transformers film, Noah — the main human character in Rise of the Beasts — receives an offer to join a secret military organization. After taking a business card, Noah turns it over and sees the familiar G.I. Joe logo. Noah also says “G.I. Joe,” apparently to help sell the reveal to audience members who can’t read.
The reveal resembles the end of the original Iron Man movie, where Nick Fury visits Tony Stark and informs him about the Avengers Initiative — revealing the existence of a broader superhero universe that later MCU films would fully explore. Since there are a grand total of zero movie studios who wouldn’t want to replicate Marvel‘s success, this reveal may be the beginning of a wider Hasbroverse. However, the success of the presumed crossover film will probably determine how far Hasbro is willing to go with the properties.
Either way, a crossover seems like an effective way to revitalize the G.I. Joe franchise, which never quite reached the level of success that Transformers did back in its heyday. While G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) and G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) both made more than $300 million at the box office, these numbers paled in comparison to Transformers, which regularly brought in worldwide box office receipts surpassing $1 billion. Even Bumblebee, the worst-performing (but best-reviewed) Transformers film, brought in over $460 million.
An attempt to relaunch the G.I. Joe franchise with Snake Eyes in 2021 resulted in an embarrassing flop, with the film only making $40 million — an amount that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will almost certainly beat in its opening weekend alone. Tying G.I. Joe to Transformers seems like a sound financial move, and it might be a good creative move as well.
The reveal has Transformers fans freaking out about the crossover, especially considering that the concept of a G.I. Joe/Transformers team-up has been tried out before — though not in film form. As far back as the 1980s, there was a four-issue comic crossover that took place in the original Marvel Comics Transformers series, simply titled “G.I. Joe and the Transformers.” It was a successful-enough concept to be tried again and again with 1993’s G.I. Joe Starring Snake-Eyes and the Transformers and the following year’s G.I. Joe and the Transformers Generation 2.
The comic book crossovers continued well beyond the 1990s, with two separate crossovers being created by the independent Devil’s Due Press, and one by the now-defunct Dreamwave comics. IDW has published the most recent Transformers/G.I. Joe Crossover, with the retro-themed G.I. Joe versus The Transformers, which ran from 2014 until 2016.
