For years, there’s been talk about pairing the Transformers and G.I. Joe properties, both owned by Hasbro, on the big screen, and now it’s finally happening. Last year, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ ending revealed that G.I. Joe, the secret military organization, exists in this universe also populated by robots in disguise. This past April, the Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover movie was finally confirmed to be moving forward at Paramount Pictures, and now that word’s come in that Chris Hemsworth is being lined up as the lead actor, I’m starting to rack my brain about his role.
Per Deadline, the Thor actor has is in talks to board this crossover movie, which hasn’t been officially titled yet. This news comes shortly after the release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on the 2024 movies schedule, which saw Hemsworth playing main antagonist Warlord Dementus. He also already has ties to the Transformers franchise, as he’s voicing Optimus Prime in the upcoming movie Transformers One, which dropped its first trailer in April.
Now, for anyone who’s concerned, it’s unlikely that Hemsworth will be voicing Optimus Prime in the Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover movie, as Transformers One isn’t expecting to take place in the same continuity as the live-action movies highlighting the Autobots, Decepticons and everything in between. If Optimus Prime does appear in the crossover, it stands to reason that Peter Cullen will continue voicing him like he’s been doing with all the live-actions movies and the original Transformers animated series from the ‘80s. It could still be possible that Hemsworth will voice a different Transformer, but it’s surely better to bet on him playing one of the G.I. Joe operatives.
Assuming that the crossover is coming out sooner rather than later, this will be the tenth theatrical Transformers movie, as let’s not forget The Transformers: The Movie from 1986, and the fourth theatrical G.I. Joe movie. 2021 saw Paramount attempting to reboot the latter film series with Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, but it critically and commercially flopped. It’s unclear if the crossover will acknowledge Snake Eyes’ continuity or the one that The Rise of Cobra and Retaliation took place in, or if it’ll start fresh again. It also remains to be seen if the movie will take place shortly after Rise of the Beasts or perhaps jump to the present day instead.
In any case, if Chris Hemsworth is indeed playing one of the main G.I. Joe characters another reboot, this gives him another opportunity to show his action chops. In addition to his long run as Thor in the MCU and time on Furiosa, he also plays Tyler Rake in the Extraction movies, which can be streamed with a Netflix subscription, and also reunited with Ragnarok co-star Tessa Thompson in 2019 for Men in Black: International. He also previously played a soldier in 2018’s 12 Strong. Personally, if the reboot button is being pressed on the G.I. Joe side of things again, I could see Hemsworth taking over as Duke, whom Channing Tatum originally played.
More to come…
