In the final few minutes of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the stage is set for what could be the beginning of a Hasbro Cinematic Universe.
Yes, that long-discussed crossover finally takes place when the movie's lead, Noah, meets with a mysterious government agent who wants his help to protect the world. Who does he work for? G.I. Joe. All signs now point to the franchises colliding in the next Transformers adventure, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura explained how it came to be during an interview with Variety (via SFFGazette.com).
"Noah goes from somebody who cannot get a job, to a guy who gets the greatest job ever. It really felt organic to put it in here because you could relate it to the story," he reveals. "It didn’t feel like we were being cynical and like, 'Good news, we could just jam G.I. Joes in here.'"
"The fans want a lot of things; if we do it and we don’t figure it out well, they’re going to be disappointed. It took us a while to figure out the Maximals, and now we have the hint of how to begin the Joes story."
The longtime Transformers producer would go on to confirm that no decisions have been made yet about which G.I. Joe characters will be thrown into the midst of this battle between the Autobots and Decepticons. He did, however, reveal that Snake Eyes is his personal favourite, so take that as you will.
As for what the team-up could look like, di Bonaventura teased, "How could they possibly not be on the same side? We don’t know, that is the truth. What we expect is there’s going to be some allegiance and they’re going to go on some kind of mission together. We have to figure both those things out."
It's a shame to learn that there are no definitive plans in place, but for what it's worth, director Steven Caple Jr. strongly hinted the franchise could be about to go cosmic.
"There are sections of the Joes that haven’t been utilized and characters that have never been touched, and I’m excited about that. I will say this about what’s next: We have spent a lot of time on Earth and I’m curious as to what else is out there..."
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now playing in theaters.