Transformers and G.I. Joe are two of the most iconic toy lines in the world. Much of their popularity arose in the 1980s as both had successful toylines that also had Marvel Comics and animated series that were airing. The two franchises are so linked that the tease at the end of 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts set up a crossover with The Transformers and G.I. Joe. Even the newest Skybound Comic series links the two franchises firmly together.
Yet despite these two franchises’ iconic status, Transformers has endured more. This is particularly odd as G.I. Joe itself is an older franchise, having launched in 1964, and its 1980s line was a relaunch of the brand that was more successful than Transformers. Particularly in the 2000s, Transformers became a major global brand that brought in new things with each new incarnation, while G.I. Joe struggled to find a new life and, more importantly, a new fanbase. Why have Transformers been more successful than G.I. Joe at the box office and within the larger pop culture conversation?
The Transformers & G.I. Joe Movies and the Power of Global Appeal
One only needs to look at the difference between Transformers and G.I. Joe films to see a sharp contrast. 2007’s Transformers, directed by Michael Bay, was one of the biggest movies of 2007 and kicked off a new era for blockbuster filmmaking, particularly in how it eventually helped get a G.I. Joe movie off the ground. While both Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opened in the same year, it is more apt to compare the box office between both film’s first entries, and it becomes clear how much bigger Transformers is as a brand. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra grossed $150 million domestic and $302 million worldwide, which means its worldwide total came below Transformers domestic total of $307 million (with $709 million worldwide).
The solo spin-off films also have drastically different numbers. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins grossed $28 million domestically and $40 million worldwide. Bumblebee outgrossed Snake Eye‘s entire worldwide run in just one week and finished with $127 million at the domestic box office and $467 million worldwide. While it isn’t a one-to-one comparison, as Bumblebee opened during the healthy theatrical holiday window of 2018 while Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins opened when theaters across the world were slowly opening up, it is likely Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins still would not have come close to Bumblebee. Both were Hasbro spin-offs based on popular fan-favorite characters who can’t speak, but Bumblebee in every bracket seemed to have the advantage.
Part of the reason for the Transformers movie’s success is they have a broader appeal than G.I. Joe. Due to the Transformers toylines originating in Japan, the brand already has a wider global reach than G.I. Joe, which has always been a more United States-centric property. In the mid-2000s and particularly in the 2010s, Hollywood began putting as much emphasis on appealing to a global movie market as they did a domestic one, and Transformers, being alien robots from another planet not tied to any national identity, made them relatable and accessible to anyone in the world.
G.I. Joe certainly has tried to broaden its global appeal from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, reimagining the G.I. Joe unit as a United Nations-backed force with members from all over the world, to G.I. Joe: Retaliation, bringing in global superstar Dwayne Johnson to entice global audiences, while Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins put the focus on the Japanese set story of Snake Eyes and a ninja faction of the franchise as opposed to the United States military unit. Yet G.I. Joe has been unable to escape the association.
Transformers Have Been Consistent in Terms of Marketing, G.I. Joe Has Not
Transformers opened in theaters on July 3, 2007, following an incredible year-long marketing campaign that made the Michael Bay-directed action movie a must-see summer blockbuster. The first four Transformers movies always opened close to the 4th of July holiday weekend, and Paramount Pictures tended to have a consistent marketing pattern for them. The Transformers films have had a consistent release schedule. The original Transformers trilogy played out over four years, with a two-year gap between each entry. Three years passed between Transformers: Dark of the Moon and 2014’s Transformers: Age of Extinction and another three until 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight, but three years is the standard wait between sequels. Bumblebee opened a year later in 2018. The longest gap the franchise has had was the five years between Bumblebee and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, but even now, Transformers One opens just one year after Rise of the Beasts.
G.I. Joe, though, has not had the same marketing consistency. In fact, it has been so sporadic it feels almost designed to work against it. 2009 was the double Hasbro year as Paramount Pictures released both Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Apart from the promo photos of the characters released in 2008, audiences didn’t get their first look at the movie until the Super Bowl spot on February 1, 2009, just seven months before the movie opened. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen revealed its first trailer during the Super Bowl, but that was a sequel to a popular film with the advantage of audiences already being on board. At the same time, G.I. Joe needed to generate buzz much earlier on.
At first, it seemed like G.I. Joe: Retaliation was moving along nicely, set to open three years after the first film. Then, just one month before the movie was set to open on June 29, 2012, Paramount Pictures decided to postpone the film’s release to March 28, 2013, despite the marketing for the movie being in full swing. This meant audiences who might have been aware the movie was being released were likely confused when they were still seeing trailers for the film in December 2012. The 2013 release date also meant a four-year gap between the first and second movies.
It would be another eight years after Retaliation to get another G.I. Joe film, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, which rebooted the franchise. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins was originally supposed to open in theaters in 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Paramount set the film for release on October 16, 2021. Yet just like with G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Paramount, at the last minute, changed Snake Eye’s release date, which threw off the entire rollout of the film’s tie-ins.
In April 2021, they announced the movie would be released on July 23, 2021. This meant that the film’s marketing had to readjust quickly to let viewers know the movie was coming out in two months. It also meant the toys for the film would not hit the shelves until months after it opened in theaters. It also had to open when theaters were still in the early months of reopening when audiences were more hesitant to return to the theaters. While October 2021 was still early, more audiences had been comfortable going to the movies by then than in July.
Between a limited number of films, little continuity between them, and two of the three movies getting last-minute release date changes, it seems like the G.I. Joe films have had an unfair advantage.
Transformers Appeals to Kids Bringing in New Fans, G.I. Joe Caters to Older Fans
Hasbro has also done more to keep the Transformers brand relevant to its target fanbase, young kids, than G.I. Joe. Shortly after Transformers hit theaters, a new animated series called Transformers: Animated aired on Cartoon Network between 2007 and 2009, between the release of Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, keeping the brand alive. Between new Transformers toylines, video games, and a variety of animated series between film installments, Transformers has stayed in the minds of young kids, so the brand is always around. It is so much so that Paramount Pictures is releasing Transformers: One, an animated Transformers movie aimed at kids, hoping to get a new fanbase.
G.I. Joe, on the other hand, has had very little mass appeal marketing since the release of the first movie. They had one excellent anime-influenced adult-orientated short-form web series, G.I. Joe: Resolute, in 2009 before the release of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and then a one-season animated series, G.I. Joe: Renegades, following that film’s release. Yet there has been no new animated series about G.I. Joe since then, back in 2011, so the brand has not been given the same public spotlight as Transformers.
Kids can’t be excited for a Snake Eyes movie because they likely don’t know who Snake Eyes or G.I. Joe is. While G.I. Joe‘s toys have been released, they primarily aim at the older fanbase who grew up with the originals. Instead of trying to court new fans, which is what franchises need to do if they want to endure and be sustainable in the long term, G.I. Joe seemingly only caters to the audiences who fondly remember the series from the 1980s.
G.I. Joe’s Military Angle Makes It Far More Complicated
Part of the reason Hasbro has shifted G.I. Joe to a more adult-oriented fanbase is the nature of property, mainly its military conceit. Aiming a toy line for kids around the military has certainly been more questionable in recent years. While the idea was always a little iffy, the early 1960s when the action figures were introduced and then the 1980s during the Reagan administration were certainly pro-military and pro-America (there is a reason nobody really talked about G.I. Joe during the Vietnam War). Yet starting in the early 2000s, as the War on Terror took off, G.I. Joe as a brand became more questionable as the worldview of the American military, both from other countries and American citizens, became less favorable with some groups. G.I. Joe originally intended to get a movie first, but following the United States’ involvement in Iraq, it was decided to pivot to Transformers as a war movie, as it felt like it would be what general audiences wanted to see.
With G.I. Joe‘s military vehicles comes one of its most controversial elements: guns as a toy. The conversation around toy guns has only increased, particularly as school shootings have become more rampant. The original G.I. Joe cartoon tended to avoid the depiction of gunfire and killing people as they used more sci-fi-based technology, but the toy line is very much rooted in the military, which some can see as propaganda. Despite Megatron in the original Transformers toyline being a gun, Hasbro quickly scrapped that, with Megatron now typically being either an alien tank or aircraft. Even other Transformers that tend to take on military vehicles don’t have the same stigma as G.I. Joe toys because it is only one part of the toy, with the main selling part being the robotic form.
Both Transformers and G.I. Joe are centered on two factions fighting one another, be it the heroic Autobots vs the villainous Decepticons or the men and women of G.I. Joe vs. the evil terrorist organization, COBRA. Yet, it is easier to buy into the fantasy of Transformers. Transformers being robotic aliens from another planet engaged in a conflict on Earth is mainly fantastical. It certainly has shades of real-world conflicts, but it is more a high-concept mythology where G.I. Joe is centered on real-world concepts like military units and terrorist organizations and making light of them. This has often put G.I. Joe in the more uncomfortable nature of sometimes being considered military propaganda aimed at young children. This could partially explain why the brand now aims to market to older fans, as they are seen as less impressionable than young kids.
Transformers is a brand with more global appeal and a consistent marketing strategy designed to engage kids. G.I. Joe‘s core concept makes it difficult to market to kids now, and it seems like Hasbro and Paramount Pictures never know what to do with the film franchise or even how to market them, often shifting release dates at the last minute, resulting in a messy rollout. These factors have added to how Robots in Disguise has become a global box office juggernaut while The Real American Hero has become more niche and a relic of the 1980s. The G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover film could be just what the G.I. Joe franchise needs, as it can latch onto Transformers for some goodwill. Transformers One is now in theaters.
