The next film from Transformers franchise is set to be a crossover with GI Joe this, while exciting, will only make the timeline more confusing. This film was first teased in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts', teasing a crossover that fans have been wanting for many years. Naturally, this only raised expectations for the upcoming Transformers films, providing the franchise with a future that is more exciting than anything created by Michael Bay's many films.
THE GI Joe/Transformers The crossover film is expected in 2025 or 2026 and is expected to see the return of Anthony Ramos' Noah Diaz as the alliance between the Autobots and GI Joe is built. While the possibilities of this film are endlessly exciting, there is a potential question that could be raised by it. This issue is related to live action Transformers timeline, which has long been unclear. Now, the Transformers and GI Joe the film has the potential to make the timeline even more confusing than Bayverse previously did.
The placement of Transformers and GI Joe in the Transformers timeline is still unclear
Paramount has not yet confirmed when the film will be set.
The film's main problem is its placement in Transformers schedule, or, more appropriately, the lack thereof. As of late 2024, the film's placement in the timeline has yet to be confirmed, meaning there are several different points at which the film could take place. On the one hand, the film could be set in the 1990s and be a direct sequel to Transformers: Rise of the Beastsfeaturing the aforementioned Noah Diaz. Another possibility is that the film jumps to another decade, as has been common in recent years with the Transformers franchise.
THE Transformers/GI Joe the film could be set after Michael Bay's other films. After all, the end of Transformers: The Last Knight teased a sequel involving Quintessa and Unicron. Given Unicron's involvement in Transformers: Rise of the Beaststhe GI Joe crossover could unite these two stories by being set after The Last Knight and reconfiguring the timeline. The last possibility is that the Transformers/GI Joe the film is not connected to any previous film and is simply a standalone crossover adventure. Regardless, whatever scenario the studio chooses needs to be confirmed sooner rather than later.
The Transformers movies have had a confusing timeline since Bumblebee
Bayverse's order of events has long been unclear
Unfortunately, this confusion with when the Transformers/GI Joe the film takes place is further evidence of how confusing the franchise's timeline has been since 2018. The first five live-action films Transformers the films were easy to understand; the first three focused on the story of Sam Witwicky and were separated by a few years from each other, with Transformers: Age of Extinction acting as a soft reset. This film was set a few years later Transformers: Dark of the Moon still focused on new human characters.
Transformers: The Last Knight continued the stories provoked in Age of Extinctionmaking these five films fit together perfectly as one overarching story. However, things got confusing with 2018 Bee. The film was pretty straightforward as a Bayverse prequel, as Bumblebee was confirmed to be on Earth before the other Autobots in 2007. Transformers. That being said, the film's ending shows Optimus Prime and other Autobots reuniting with Bumblebee on Earth in the 1980s, becoming one of the highest ranked Transformers films simultaneously one of the most disconcerting.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts only increased this confusion. This film was a sequel to Bee still had the Autobots on Earth in the 1990s. Unicron's involvement then conflicted with the villain's history in 2017 Transformers: The Last Knightseemingly confirming that the two prequels were not, in fact, prequels. To top it off, the 2024 animated film Transformers One it was even labeled as a Bayverse prequel.
Transformers not wanting to abandon the Bayverse made things more complicated
The distinction was needed but not provided
Overall, this confusion was a result of one thing: Transformers clinging to Bayverse. Bee was dubbed a standalone prequel to the Bayverse films which, at first, was pretty good. It was only the film's ending that conflicted with the events of Michael Bay's films, causing Paramount's insistence Bee was attached to them even stranger.
If Paramount had abandoned Bayverse, the previous scenario of a new timeline would be much easier to understand and much less confusing…
After the release of Transformers: Rise of the Beaststhere was still no clear and definitive answer as to whether this film served as a sequel to Bee in a completely new timeline or was it simply a second Bayverse prequel detailing the characters' early stories from 2007 Transformers. If Paramount had abandoned Bayverse, the previous scenario of a new timeline would be much easier to understand and much less confusing. This would then make scheduling issues Transformers and GI Joe non-existent crossover, allowing the film to overcome the biggest obstacle it currently faces.
Transformers 8 is the working title of the eighth canonical entry in the science fiction action film franchise and is set after the events of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. This film will mark the second in a trilogy of films that began with Rise of the Beasts.