Of Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was something of a ‘bot buffet, throwing in many fan-favorite characters (Maximals and Predacons and Unicron, oh my!) in an effort to satisfy everyone. The film also ended with a GI Joe reveal intended to set up a future movie crossover that collects everyone’s favorite robots and America’s daring, well-trained task force Most fans were giddy at the prospect of a cinematic team-up, but I’m here to throw a cold one Energon on this idea and be warned that this Transformers/GI Joe movie is already destined to be a Titan sized failure.
Transformers and GI Joe go way back
These two intellectual properties have a rich history of teaming up, though this has mostly been through comics, toys, and an old Transformers G1 episode featuring an aging Cobra Commander (though he went by the name “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 favorite Joes, Cobras, Autobots, and Decepticons share the big screen together. Unfortunately, the Transformers/GI Joe crossover movie is already doomed as the movie will be a jumbled mess of rushed characterizations and various big names competing for screen time.
Fittingly, much of the future film’s future problems began with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. The earlier Bumblebee the movie was a breath of fresh air, and one of its narrative strengths was a streamlined cast that allowed us to focus on our titular “bot.” However, some fans wanted more robots, and Rise of the Beasts delivered, giving us a movie packed with more Autobots while introducing new allies (the Maximals), new villains (the Predacons), and even a dark god driven by endless hunger (Unicron).
Too many characters
That sequel suffered because it had to introduce us to new robots like Optimus Primal and new humans like Noah Diaz, all while developing existing characters like Optimus Prime, someone who only briefly appeared in Bumblebees new continuity (this universe is separate from Michael Bay films). At a minimum, we can count on the Transformers/GI Joe movie to exacerbate this problem as it has to balance the roster of returning bots and humans with a host of new characters. Keep in mind that this new continuity still needs to introduce heavyweight Deception characters like Megatron and Starscream, while also introducing brand new teams of GI Joe and Cobra forces.
Even in the hands of the best writer and director, it would be impossible to give all these characters what they deserve on screen. That means the crossover movie has to choose between only bringing in a small handful of characters from each faction or bringing in a large number and only giving the most beloved heroes and villains a line or two. Both choices are sure to annoy 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 the Transformers/GI Joe movie will have great difficulty creating a compelling Big Bad for our heroes to fight and for our villains to potentially 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 tough to deliver a scarier villain than this, but it’s a fair question to ask what the hell the squishy humans in GI Joe could do to fight something even scarier than Unicron, who was a literal extinction-level threat against humanity.
Finally, the Transformers/GI Joe movie will suffer in comparison to other crossovers between these IPs, including the comics currently published by Image. In Image’s Energon Universe, the plots of each faction are finely intertwined: even as the existence of Energon drives Cobra Commander to create an army powered by deadly weapons, GI Joe is created to stop anyone – human or robot – who might abuse this energy source. The comics are great because they’ve spent a lot of time working up to the crossover, and Image has published some great miniseries focused on fan favorite characters like Cobra Commander.
From a fan
As you can tell, I’m a huge fanboy of both IPs… in fact, this is being written in an office where Transformers and GI Joe toys loom over me as I work. I love these characters and their complex stories, but their crossovers have always worked best via long-form comic book storytelling. The live-action Transformers/GI Joe movie is sure to be a crammed and messy mess that disappoints critics and audiences alike and makes us all say the iconic phrase of resigned misery: “Yeah, it’s just prime!”
