The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
The Transformers franchise was a billion-dollar box office juggernaut under director Michael Bay but ever since he left the series has been trying to find its footing. Bumblebee was a modest success despite being the best-reviewed in the series to date. Now Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is here, introducing a whole new collection of giant robot aliens.
While Rise of the Beasts follows directly from the events of Bumblebee, the movie feels very much like it is also an attempt to relaunch the franchise, bringing together favorites like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee and introducing the popular Transformers: Beast Wars characters as well. But then, as the movie comes to a close, we learn that this franchise has an even bigger target than simply future Transformers movies in line. Here's what happened during the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts ending.
How Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts Ends
Rise of the Beasts culminates in a massive battle in Peru, with the Autobots and Maximals on one side, and the servants of Unicron on the other. Unicron wants to use the Trans Warp Key to cross over from his part of the galaxy so that he can consume Earth. In the end, with the help of humans Noah (Anthony Ramos) and Elena (Dominque Fishback), the heroes prevail and Unicron is prevented from crossing over. However, it is made clear that Unicron is still very much alive, and still very much a threat.
The final scene sees Noah back where he started, simply trying to find a job. He has an interview with somebody, but it’s never made entirely clear who. While waiting, he happens to see Elena on the news. She’s being interviewed about her new archeological discovery connected to the events of the film. She has clearly moved up in the world as a result of everything, but Noah, not so much.
However, we learn fairly quickly that this job interview is...more than meets the eye. The interviewer, Burke (Michael Kelly), reveals that he knows exactly what Noah has been doing, and who his “big friends” are. He tells Noah that he’d like the young man to come to work with them, a nameless secret government organization, and throws in that they'll help cover the medical bills for Noah's sick brother. Burke opens a wall to reveal a secret hanger full of futuristic-looking technology. Noah glances at the business card he was handed to see just who it is that wants him. The name of the organization is…G.I. Joe.
The Hasbro Cinematic Universe That Could Be
All the way back in 2007 when the first Transformers movie came out, and several of the human characters were members of the military, fans wondered if this might be a step to bring together the giant robots and Hasbro’s other big toy line, that also became a popular 1980s cartoon series, G.I. Joe. While G.I. Joe movies were also produced no Transformers crossover ever came about.
It's been clear from plans at Paramount and Hasbro that a cinematic universe has been something they want to create. Writers have been brought together for this specific purpose before, but thus far nothing has come of it.
Now, however, it looks like we’re being told that a crossover between Transformers and G.I. Joe isn’t simply possible, it’s the plan. We’re specifically being told that G.I. Joe and the Transformers exist in the same universe, so this could be the beginning of a new attempt at a cinematic universe. While G.I. Joe could certainly turn up in the next Transformers movie, this ending could just as easily be setting up the next G.I. Joe movie. Of course, either way, we have to ask: just what does this mean for the future of G. I. Joe on the big screen?
What Does This Mean For The Existing G.I. Joe Movies?
While Transformers has been a successful movie franchise from the beginning, G.I. Joe hasn’t been so lucky. The first film, 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was successful enough to get a sequel (2013’s Retaliation) but neither movie was really a big hit. 2021’s Snake Eyes was an origin story for one particular member of the G.I. Joe universe, but it also included a few other G.I. Joe characters and thus was clearly meant to retcon the franchise.
But, Snake Eyes wasn’t a big hit, either, and while some of that can certainly be chalked up to pandemic-era box office syndrome, nobody is really calling for sequels to that one. So if G.I. Joe is going to be back on the big screen, either in a future Transformers film, or their own, just what G.I. Joe are we going to get?
We hadn’t seen a character played by Michael Kelly in any of the previous G.I. Joe movies, so he’s not playing somebody that we knew from either the original movies or Snake Eyes. That doesn’t mean the Transformers-connected G.I. Joe won’t include characters we know, but the door is certainly open to just rebooting the franchise for a third time in a decade and a half if that’s the plan.
On the one hand, cutting bait on Snake Eyes only two years after it came out seems awfully fast, even if the movie didn’t perform as hoped, but there had been plans for more G.I. Joe movies after Snake Eyes, and they no longer seem to be on the books. Perhaps there’s a chance to see Henry Golding return as Snake Eyes as part of an ensemble of G.I. Joe characters.
Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time that a studio has attempted to copy the successful MCU formula and build a cinematic universe of its own. The fact is, though, that it doesn’t always work.
Universal’s Dark Universe wasn’t that long ago. The Mummy was supposed to launch a new franchise of cinematic monster movies, but that first film failed to find an audience, and the entire thing fell apart. A lot of the potential of this ending is riding on Transformers: Rise of the Beasts being a success. If it’s not, then this finale could just end up being a cute reference that never goes anywhere.
