Transformers: Rise of the Beasts ending sets up a major franchise crossover
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Warning: This article contains spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
After watching Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, it would appear that Paramount and Hasbro are merging two of their most lucrative franchises on the big screen.
The latest installment of Transformers, directed this time by Steven Caple Jr., debuted in theaters Friday, thereby introducing the Maximals into the Autobot cinematic universe. The ending, however, name-dropped another major set of characters with a surprise reveal: G.I. Joe.
After helping the Autobots (led by Peter Cullen's Optimus Prime) and the Maximals (led by Ron Perlman's Optimus Primal) stop the world-devouring Unicron (Colman Domingo) from destroying Earth, Anthony Ramos' tech-savvy ex-military Noah Diaz is now back on the job hunt in New York City.
Paramount Michael Kelly makes a surprise appearance in 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' to set up a G.I. Joe crossover
The final sequence — aside from a fun mid-credits scene — sees him entering a warehouse to interview with a man, played by House of Cards and Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan actor Michael Kelly. The interviewer reveals he knows all about Noah's movements with the Autobots and Maximals, and suggest they work together.
"We're in the middle of an on-going war," the interviewer says, adding, "We'd love to have the big guys join the fight."
Who's "we"? The man presses a secret button to reveal a hidden underground bunker within the warehouse where a group of people are working on some kind of alien aircraft. He hands Noah a card and on the back is the name "G.I. Joe" with the organization's familiar eagle and star crest.
The G.I. Joes and Transformers characters have teamed up in comic book stories, but this would mark the first time they do so in the current live-action, VFX-heavy blockbusters.
PARAMOUNT Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) and Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) join up in 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts'
Both franchises have undergone some changes over the years. After the first five Transformers movies from the Michael Bay era, starting with 2007's Transformers and leading up to 2017's Transformers: The Last Knight, the series changed it up with soft reboot. 2018's Bumblebee went back to the 1980s and didn't necessarily contradict events that happened in the original movies. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is the direct continuation of Bumblebee.
Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Sienna Miller starred in 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which was then followed by 2013's G.I. Joe: Retaliation with Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, and Adrianne Palicki. 2021's Snake Eyes, starring Henry Golding as the titular G.I. Joe character, was meant to be a new start for the franchise, but poor box-office sales and reception didn't look good for any potential follow-ups.
Paramount and Hasbro have not formally announced a joint Transformers-G.I. Joe movie, or any other kind of crossover project, but their mindset is clear: They want to see Snake Eyes ride Rhinox. We know it.
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