Earlier this year we heard that Paramount was looking to expand Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise into multiple spin-offs and sequels. They hired Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend) to oversee a big team of screenwriters who would brainstorm ideas and plan out the future of the series. Now that he has accomplished that task, they are apparently recruiting him to do the same for their G.I. Joe franchise. Although the G.I. Joe movies have not been nearly as successful as the Transformers ones, there is no shortage of additional source material to draw from (especially if you count the comics). What’s interesting, however, is that they are apparently teaming up with Hasbro’s Allspark Pictures to bring several other ’80s toy properties into the mix as well. Hasbro chairman, president and CEO Brian Goldner had this to say:

“Hasbro and Allspark Pictures put storytelling at the center of everything that we do. These brands are filled with memorable stories and vivid characters, and this universe creates a framework for how they will become interconnected. Extending our partnership with Paramount allows us to continue our long-term strategy and overall vision to build dynamic worlds for all of our brands, and we are thrilled to collaborate with them as we develop these properties.”

The plan is for the G.I. Joe movie franchise to absorb characters from four other Hasbro brands: Micronauts, Visionaries, M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) and ROM. This coincides with some previous rumours, which hinted that M.A.S.K. might be integrated into G.I. Joe 3. It makes a certain amount of sense considering that some of these properties might not be big enough to support their own movie franchise, but could fit well within another bigger universe.

Visionaries is a toy line that revolved around a medieval world where knights have magical holograms that allow them to morph into animals. M.A.S.K., Rom and Micronauts, on the other hand, all happen to involve transforming vehicles and/or robots, which in some ways have more of a connection with the Transformers series. Something tells me that a Transformers crossover isn’t out of the question here. Do you remember any of these toys or cartoons? Are you on board for a multi-property Hasbro Cinematic Universe or could this potentially ruin the G.I. Joe movie franchise?