After dabbling in the whole shared universe thing with their Transformers writing room, rumours emerged recently that Hasbro and Paramount would be expanding the idea to other properties, including the G.I. Joe movies. Prepare for a nostalgia overload as the two companies are looking to merge the strike force with Micronauts, Visionairies, M.A.S.K. and Rom.
Under Hasbro’s Allspark Pictures arm, the plan is for the studio and the toy company to develop a Marvel-style universe using the various brands they share under a new deal. So we could eventually be looking at a massive team-up film where soldiers with gadgets, robots and a Space Knight all show up to fight some terrifying central threat, which might just be the crushing expectation placed upon a film such as this.
Micronauts, the miniature line of action figures and robots, was mentioned last month when rumours of this began to surface. Visionairies, or to give them their full title, Visionairies: Knights Of The Magical Light, are action figures based in a world where all electronics have failed and people rely on the old magic, with a battle raging between good and evil warriors. M.A.S.K. became a sensation in the 1980s with the now standard combo of toys and cartoon series about an underground task force known as the Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand (look, spelling was not in their power set and it makes a better name, all right?) who fought the villainous V.E.N.O.M. with vehicles that could transform and masks possessing different abilities. As for Rom, the Space Knight was created as a toy in the 1970s for Parker Brothers, which spurred a Marvel comic and eventually saw him meeting up with the Avengers. In the UK, he ended up licensed as part of the Action Man range, AKA our version of G.I. Joe.
Can Paramount replicate the Marvel formula? Not even a specially powered mask can tell the future, but the studio will be hoping that nostalgia plays a big part, along with appealing to a younger demographic with plenty of action.