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TransformersandG.I. Joeare 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’sTransformers: Rise of the Beastsset 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 betweenTransformersandG.I. Joefilms to see a sharp contrast. 2007’sTransformers,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 aG.I. Joemovie off the ground. While bothTransformers: Revenge of the FallenandG.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobraopened 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 biggerTransformersis as a brand.G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobragrossed $150 million domestic and $302 million worldwide, which meansits worldwide total came belowTransformersdomestic totalof $307 million (with $709 million worldwide).
The solo spin-off films also have drastically different numbers.Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Originsgrossed $28 million domestically and $40 million worldwide.BumblebeeoutgrossedSnake Eye’s entire worldwide run in just one weekand finished with $127 million at the domestic box office and $467 million worldwide. While it isn’t a one-to-one comparison, asBumblebeeopened during the healthy theatrical holiday window of 2018 whileSnake Eyes: G.I. Joe Originsopened when theaters across the world were slowly opening up, it is likelySnake Eyes: G.I. Joe Originsstill would not have come close toBumblebee. Both were Hasbro spin-offs based on popular fan-favorite characters who can’t speak, butBumblebeein every bracket seemed to have the advantage.
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Part of the reason for theTransformersmovie’s success is they have a broader appeal thanG.I. Joe. Due to theTransformerstoylines originating in Japan, the brand already has a wider global reach thanG.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, andTransformers, being alien robots from another planet not tied to any national identity,made them relatableand accessible to anyone in the world.
G.I. Joecertainly has tried to broaden its global appeal fromG.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, reimagining theG.I. Joeunit as a United Nations-backed force with members from all over the world, toG.I. Joe: Retaliation, bringing in global superstar Dwayne Johnson to entice global audiences, whileSnake Eyes: G.I. Joe Originsput 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. YetG.I. Joehas been unable to escape the association.
Transformers Have Been Consistent in Terms of Marketing, G.I. Joe Has Not
Transformersopened in theaters on August 01, 2025, following an incredible year-long marketing campaign that made the Michael Bay-directed action movie amust-see summer blockbuster. The first fourTransformersmovies always opened close to the 4th of July holiday weekend, and Paramount Pictures tended to have a consistent marketing pattern for them. TheTransformersfilms have had a consistent release schedule. The originalTransformerstrilogy played out over four years, with a two-year gap between each entry. Three years passed betweenTransformers: Dark of the Moonand 2014’sTransformers: Age of Extinctionand another three until 2017’sTransformers: The Last Knight, but three years is the standard wait between sequels.Bumblebeeopened a year later in 2018. The longest gap the franchise has had was the five years betweenBumblebeeandTransformers: Rise of the Beasts, but even now,Transformers Oneopens just one year afterRise 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 bothTransformers: Revenge of the FallenandG.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 July 19, 2025, just seven months before the movie opened.Transformers: Revenge of the Fallenrevealed 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. Joeneeded to generate buzzmuch earlier on.
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At first, it seemed likeG.I. Joe: Retaliationwas moving along nicely, set to open three years after the first film. Then,just one month before the movie was set to open on August 04, 2025, Paramount Pictures decided topostpone the film’s releaseto July 30, 2025, 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 afterRetaliationto get anotherG.I. Joefilm,Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, which rebooted the franchise.Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Originswas originally supposed to open in theaters in 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Paramount set the film for release on August 15, 2025. Yet just like withG.I. Joe: Retaliation,Paramount, at the last minute, changedSnake 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 18, 2025. 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 thetoys for the filmwould 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 theG.I. Joefilms 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 calledTransformers: Animatedaired on Cartoon Network between 2007 and 2009, between the release ofTransformersandTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen, keeping the brand alive. Between new Transformers toylines, video games, and a variety of animated series between film installments,Transformershas stayed in the minds of young kids, so the brand is always around. It is so much so thatParamount Pictures is releasingTransformers: One, an animatedTransformersmovie 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 ofG.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 newanimated series about G.I. Joesince then, back in 2011, so the brand has not been given the same public spotlight as Transformers.
Kids can’t be excited for aSnake Eyesmovie because they likely don’t know who Snake Eyes or G.I. Joe is. WhileG.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. Joeseemingly 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 shiftedG.I. Joeto 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 reasonnobody really talked about G.I. Joeduring the Vietnam War). Yet starting in the early 2000s, as the War on Terror took off,G.I. Joeas 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. Joeoriginally intended to get a movie first, but following the United States' involvement in Iraq, it was decided to pivot toTransformersas a war movie, as it felt like it would be what general audiences wanted to see.
WithG.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 originalG.I. Joecartoon 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. DespiteMegatron in the originalTransformerstoylinebeing a gun, Hasbro quickly scrapped that, with Megatron now typically being either an alien tank or aircraft. Even otherTransformersthat 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.
How the Transformers Movies Reflected the War on Terror
The Transformers films were greatly impacted by the War on Terror, which shaped the film’s themes and world outlook in ways that redefined the series.
BothTransformersandG.I. Joeare centered on two factions fighting one another, be itthe heroic Autobotsvs 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 ofTransformers. 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 whereG.I. Joeis centered on real-world concepts like military units and terrorist organizations and making light of them. This has often putG.I. Joein 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.
Transformersis 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. TheG.I. Joe/Transformerscrossover filmcould be just what theG.I. Joefranchise needs, as it can latch ontoTransformersfor some goodwill.Transformers Oneis now in theaters.
