The TRANSFORMERS/G.I. JOE Crossover Movie Is Dead, and That’s Probably for the Best
The long-planned Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover movie is officially dead, and honestly, I’m good with that.
Paramount teased the crossover at the end of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, setting the stage for Autobots and Joes to finally collide in a live-action movie. It was a cool idea on paper, but everything we heard about the project afterward made it sound like nobody had figured out what that movie was actually supposed to be.
Now we know it isn’t happening. The confirmation comes as the G.I. Joe franchise heads in a completely different direction, with Bradley Cooper set to lead a new movie from Danny McBride. According to Deadline:
"Plot details [for G.I. Joe] are under wraps, but it will be a reimagining of the franchise. It also will be uncoupled from a previous crossover film with Transformers that is no longer in development."
That officially closes the door on the crossover teased in Rise of the Beasts, and I think that’s ultimately the right move.
The whole thing always felt like Paramount was trying to make the crossover happen because combining two recognizable Hasbro franchises sounded like a good business move, rather than because somebody had an awesome story that demanded Optimus Prime and Duke share the screen.
Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura had previously admitted that they didn’t really have a concrete plan for how the crossover would work. That didn’t inspire much confidence.
If you’re going to bring Transformers and G.I. Joe together for the first time in live action, there should be a strong reason for it beyond the novelty of seeing the characters standing next to each other.
As a fan of both franchises, I’m happy they’re no longer forcing it forward without a clear creative direction. A crossover could absolutely work someday, but it needs filmmakers with a killer idea and an actual plan that naturally leads into it.
Steven Caple Jr., who directed Rise of the Beasts, was previously eyed to continue the story after introducing G.I. Joe at the end of the film. The last time Caple addressed the crossover, he still sounded enthusiastic about its possibilities:
"I still do have big plans for what that could be, but we'll have to see. We'll have to see what comes about it. I am not part of the next Transformers film, but it's still in development, and there's still time, so you just never know. Yeah."
That possibility has now run its course. Instead, McBride is taking G.I. Joe back to the drawing board with a new movie centered on Duke. He’s writing the screenplay alongside Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri, his longtime The Righteous Gemstones collaborators.
McBride’s involvement might immediately make you think this is going to be a comedy, but he says that isn’t what they’re making.
"Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri, who I wrote a lot of The Righteous Gemstones with, we sat down, and we cracked something that we really love a lot, and, weirdly, it grounds G.I. Joe. It's not a comedy," he promised. "It's suspense and action, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun."
McBride has also revealed an interesting piece of the story. The movie will take Duke and a team of Joes into Springfield, the seemingly normal American town that comic book fans know is secretly controlled by Cobra.
"You're following Duke and a group of other Joes. There's that town in the comics, Springfield, which is a town that's secretly all Cobra. That is where our film takes place," he teased, adding, "We have some pretty interesting people lining up to be in it, too. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but it looks like it's going to be pretty fun."
That sounds far more interesting to me than trying to cram the Joes into a Transformers sequel simply because Rise of the Beasts ended with a crossover tease. A suspense-driven G.I. Joe action movie set inside a town secretly run by Cobra gives the franchise its own identity and a chance to rebuild itself without Autobots taking up half the screen.
As for Transformers, its live-action future remains less clear. Michael Bay directed five Transformers movies, and whatever you think of them, those films were box office monsters.
Paramount eventually moved in another direction. Bumblebee, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and Transformers One were generally viewed as creative course corrections, but none matched the commercial heights of Bay’s biggest movies.
There has since been plenty of talk about Bay potentially returning to Transformers, with David Ellison possibly looking to the filmmaker who turned the property into a massive theatrical franchise in the first place.
Whether bringing Bay back is ultimately the direction Transformers takes remains to be seen, but the franchise needs to figure out what it wants to be before worrying about another cinematic universe.
There’s still another place where fans may eventually get their Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover fix.
Robert Kirkman and Skybound Entertainment are developing an adult animated series with Hasbro Entertainment based on the Energon Universe, the shared comic book universe that brings together Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Void Rivals. Joe Henderson, known for Lucifer, is writing and serving as showrunner.
That project feels like a much more natural home for these characters to collide because the Energon Universe was built around connecting them from the beginning.
More than three years have also passed since Rise of the Beasts teased the live-action crossover. Whatever momentum that ending created has faded, and trying to resurrect the idea now without a strong story would feel like chasing something the studio thought audiences wanted several years ago.
There’s nothing wrong with abandoning an idea that isn’t coming together. In this case, I think it’s the better outcome.
I’m much more interested in seeing what McBride has cooked up for G.I. Joe.
What do you think? Are you disappointed that the live-action Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover has been scrapped, or do you think both franchises are better off going their separate ways for now?