from Chris Snelgrove
| Published
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was a sort of “bot buffet” featuring lots of fan favorite characters (Maximals and Predacons and Unicron, oh my!) in an attempt to please everyone. The film also ends with a GI Joe reveal designed to set up a future crossover movie that brings together everyone’s favorite transforming robots and America’s daring, well-trained missionary force. Most fans were giddy at the prospect of a cinematic team-up, but I’m here to throw some cold energy at the idea and warn you that this Transformers/GI Joe movie is already destined to be a Titan-sized flop.
Transformers and GI Joe go way back
These two intellectual properties have a rich history of coming together, though it’s mostly been through comics, toy lines, and an old episode of Transformers G1 featuring an aging Cobra commander (although he was called “Old Snake”). Both franchises have a very uneven history of live-action movies, and the upcoming crossover will be our first opportunity to see our beloved Joes, Cobras, Autobots, and Decepticons share the big screen together. Unfortunately, the Transformers/GI Joe crossover is already doomed because the movie will be a cluttered mess of rushed characterizations and various big names competing for screen time.
Appropriately enough, much of the future film’s future problems began with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. As soon as possible Ground bee the film was a breath of fresh air, and one of its narrative strengths was its streamlined cast of characters, allowing us to focus on our titular ‘bot. However, some fans wanted more robots and Rise of the Beasts delivered, giving us a movie full of more Autobots while also introducing new allies (the Maximals), new villains (the Predacons), and even a dark god driven by an endless hunger (Unicron).
Too many characters
This sequel suffered because it had to introduce us to new robots like Optimus Primal and new humans like Noah Diaz, while fleshing out existing characters like Optimus Prime, someone who only briefly appeared in Ground beethe new continuity of (this universe is separate from Michael Bay films). At the very least, we can count on the Transformers/GI Joe movie crossover to compound this problem because it will have to balance a roster of returning ‘bots and humans with plenty of new characters. Keep in mind that this new continuity should still introduce heavyweight Deception characters like Megatron and Starscream, while also introducing all-new GI Joe and Cobra force teams.
Even in the hands of the best writer and director, it would be impossible to do justice to all these characters on screen. This means that the crossover film will have to choose between introducing only a small handful of characters from each faction, or introducing a large number and only a line or two of the most beloved heroes and villains. Both choices are guaranteed to irritate fans of both Transformers and GI Joe, two IPs known for their large rosters of colorful characters.
The big bad problem
Also, I can’t help but worry that a Transformers/GI Joe movie will have a hard time establishing a convincing Big Bad for our heroes to fight and our villains to eventually join. Rise of the Beasts already had Optimus Prime and his boys fighting Unicron, a dark god who (Galactus-style) devours entire planets. Not only is it going to be hard to deliver a scarier bad guy than this, but it’s a fair question to ask what the hell the mild-mannered folks in GI Joe can do to fight something even scarier than Unicron, who was a literal extinction-level threat to humanity.
Finally, the Transformers/GI Joe movie will suffer compared to other crossovers between these IPs, including the comics currently published by Image. In Image’s Energon Universe, each faction’s storylines are delicately intertwined: even as the existence of Energon prompts Cobra Commander to create an army powered by deadly weapons, GI Joe is set to stop anyone—human or robot—who might abuse this source of power. energy. The comics are great because they’ve spent a lot of time working on the crossover, and Image has published some great miniseries focusing on fan-favorite characters like Cobra Commander.
From a fan
As you can tell, I’m a big fan of both IPs… in fact, this is being written in an office with Transformers and GI Joe toys hanging over me as I work. I love these characters and their complex stories, but their crossovers have always worked best through long-term comic book storytelling. The Transformers/GI Joe action movie is sure to be a crowded and messy mess that disappoints critics and audiences alike and has us all saying that iconic phrase of resigned misery: “Well, it’s just top-notch!”
