Being the seventh movie in a giant franchise, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts doesn’t exist in a vacuum. A movie like this always has an eye on what’s next–or at least what could be next. And it’s got at least one very clear idea for a sequel.
At the end of Rise of the Beasts, our main human hero, Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos), returns to his old life in Brooklyn. He still needs a job, and he’s got an interview. But it’s going a bit oddly, because this guy he’s interviewing with seems to know all about his big adventure with the Transformers.
Warning: This remainder of this article contains spoilers for the ending of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
And he wants to recruit Noah into a secret government organization of some kind. And, no, it’s not Sector 7 from the previous Transformers movies. It’s G.I. Joe.
Naturally, we have questions about what this tease actually means. Is this the start of some kind of Hasbro Cinematic Universe? Is a new standalone G.I. Joe movie in the works? And we got some answers from producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura.
Di Bonaventura told GameSpot that, right now, this G.I. Joe tease is about “[adding] elements to Transformers,” meaning there’s no separate G.I. Joe movie in development or greater universe being planned right now. They’re going to see how Rise of the Beasts performs, both in terms of box office and audience response, and go from there.
“What we end up doing with G.I. Joe, separately, I don’t know at this moment. We tend not to plan things, on purpose,” di Bonaventura told GameSpot. “Because one of the aspects of trying to keep it fresh has been the fact that we get to experience the current movie with the audience. And their reaction to it really influences where we go.”
As for the prospects for a new Joe-specific flick, he said: “I would think we’re gonna develop one, but that’s not on the immediate horizon, no.”
Di Bonaventura then dove into the factors the studio, the producers, and Hasbro are having to weigh as they figure it all out–including how much you can cram into a single movie before it becomes too much.
“We all have some ideas about where we’re gonna go, but none of them are finalized and we don’t all agree yet,” he said, frankly. “But you know, Primal is such a great character. I can’t imagine not doing something with him. Mirage is such a great character. You know, in a sense, Optimus and Bumblebee are Batman and Robin. So, you know, right away, you’re starting to form a team. Noah, and Elena, what are they going to do?
“I think one of the things we do want to avoid is doing too many characters, because then you don’t get to relate to any of them. And so I think that is going to be the discipline we’re gonna force ourselves to, because there’s so many great characters you want, you know, your first instinct is, let’s get them in there. Your next instinct: Your experience has led you to understand that that’s not the way to do it.”
And as for potentially incorporating other Hasbro properties into this movie franchise: “Slowly but surely,” he said, but with the important caveat that the studio isn’t necessarily the ones making that decision.
“Hasbro has their own plans, so they have to want to do it,” di Bonaventura said. “There’s a lot of complications. You can’t just say, ‘I want that thing, I want that thing.'”
For now, you should expect more Transformers with a side of G.I. Joe. What else might happen remains completely up in the air.
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