Hasbro: Cinematic Contender?

Between the dying Foxes and desperate Sonys, beyond the castles of Disney and the climb of Warner Bros, there lies in wait another Cinematic Universe waiting to appear. One full of heroes, soldiers, and giant robots. A lot of giant robots.

Hasbro has been setting up a potantial gold-mine of a universe under out noses for the past year. Or, at the very least, they own some properties that could make them a solid Cinematic Universe. One to rival Marvel or Star Wars or even DC? Maybe not. But, Hasbro owns licensing to some of the most iconic toy, TV, and movie franchises of the 80's and 90's. The big three properties Hasbro owns are G.I. Joe, Transformers, and the newly acquired Power Rangers. Now, in terms of film, G.I. Joe has had two pretty underperforming films, Transformers has some blockbusters and is setting up for a reboot, and Power Rangers...tried. Point is these three franchises have made cinematic appearances, all with the goal of launching successful film series. And I think now that Hasbro owns Power Rangers they have the ability to set up something big.

In case you're unaware Hasbro Studios has worked with Paramount Pictures on both G.I. Joe films and all the Transformers movies. And with "Bumblebee" seeking to revitalize the Transformers brand with a fresh, less-testoroned breath of air, it would be the perfect time to expand their established universe. In fact, these three franchises could coexist in a way Marvel and DC couldn't match. See, with Marvel and DC it's always superheroes teaming up, or superheroes forming a team, or one superhero joining an established team. But Hasbro has something a little different. They own a widely known series of military operatives who all perform different functions and all have catchy names. A new G.I. Joe movie could be a spy film, an action film, and even a modern film about counter-terrorism. It will fill that Action-Advnture, soldier-saluting, war film genre. And because G.I. Joe are a government operation they can be in the background of other films. Take Power Rangers, right? I have a whole pitch for what you do with Cinematic Power Rangers, but we'll shelf that. We all know The Power Rangers are the traditional superhero, teen angst, comedic action movie about teamwork and overcoming personal issues kind of film. And we know there's going to be a couple fights with giant monsters. Imagine a scene where The Power Rangers are helping clean up Angel Grove and rescuing people, and The Red Ranger is helped out by a large military man. And when The Rangers ask who these military guys are, they tell The Rangers "We're friends. That is, until you go from fighting monsters to fighting terrorism. Then, we might have a problem". Then their leader waves his hand and yells, "Let's go, Joes". Established characters in an established universe. The Joes and The Power Rangers aren't going to fight or trade members or anything, just talk a little. Maybe one of their sequels will have a team-up.

And hey, what do The Power Rangers use to finish the monster? A giant robot. So when The Megazord makes it on to the news, The Autobots come out of hiding on Earth to investigate. And when The Autobots come out of nowhere, who starts keeping an eye on them? The government's elite task force G.I. Joe. Then the new Transformers movie can have Roadblock riding alongside The Autobots as they fight Decepticons. And The Joes and Rangers help protect citizens there too. And Lord Zedd uses the dead body of a Decepticon to build Serpentera. And Cobra Commander extracts the poisonous pollen from a Power Ranger monster. And Megatron gets a nuclear warhead through Cobra's connections. You just create so many connections between franchises and easy explanations. In a world where giant robots, military task forces, and superheroes exist things remain exciting without feeling bloated. This is because unlike Marvel or DC there aren't a lot of players to remember. It's primarily three teams of heroes. Three teams of villains. You may rotate some Autobots or kill of some Joes or upgrade The Rangers, but the connections don't change. And if they do and The Joes consider The Rangers a threat? Good. That's a film and that's a chance to push both movies in a new direction.

Another Hasbro property? "MASK". Mobile Armored Strike Kommand. I know, they really had to work in that "K". MASK is a covert organization of soldiers who don armor that give them superpowers and the ability to pilot transforming vehicles. Soldiers? Super-suits? Transforming vehicles? Well shit, if that isn't the perfect film franchise to launch after the first three wear out I don't know what is! G.I. Joe develops an off-the-books splinter group of soldiers, they manufacture armors based off The Power Ranger's suits, and then build machines that replicate Transformers! You can even call these new machines "Gobots". And hey, maybe Ratchet creates microscopic robots to help repair Autobots internally and he dubs them "Micronauts"! Hasbro also owns ROM The Spaceknight, an alien bonded with a giant robot who defends people. He'd be perfect for an interstellar Transformers movie. Jem & The Holograms could perform a concert in Angel Grove in a Power Rangers film. Stretch Armstrong could be a stereotypical superhero with elastic powers who cameos in a Transformers movie before he's crushed by Starscream. And-risky move here-Hasbro could make a My Little Pony film that ends with the Pony's jumping realms right into the middle of a Joe/Cobra fight. That'd be an easy way to further introduce magic into this universe.

There is so much potential to a Hasbro Cinematic Universe. It has magic, robots, superheroes, military, all the elements that Marvel and DC have. It can tell overarching stories with characters and teams in different and unexpected ways. It can set up potential team-ups or clashes, we could see a universe in where Zordon has met Optimus Prime before and Billy Cranston helps upgrade The Autobots and Snake Eyes fights The White Ranger or something! I really think Hasbro has a chance and I'm willing to bet they're planning to make this kind of power play. So go see "Bumblebee" when it comes out and maybe, just maybe, we'll get an after credit sequence where Starscream asks another robot if he's an Autobot or a Decepticon and the robot will turn and say, "Dude, we're The Power Rangers".

Thanks for reading!

Joes! Roll Out cuz' it's Morphin' Time!