G.I. Joe has had three live-action films theatrically released, as well as one DTV animated movie from the 1980s. However, the series is a mixed bag that has yet to fully capture everything fans who grew up with G.I. Joe in the 1980s love about the property. While G.I. Joe action figures existed in the 1970s, Hasbro rebooted the franchise in the 1980s. In collaboration with Marvel Comics, G.I. Joe became a mega-successful series of toys with an elaborate mythology told through comic books and a wildly popular animated series, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.

Since the 80s, G.I. Joe has been kept alive throughout the decades by nostalgia, more comics, and other animated revivals. G.I. Joe: The Movie was intended for the big screen but was released on home video instead. It took until Transformers' big-screen success before G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra finally hit theaters in 2009, followed by 2013's G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Hasbro and Paramount opted to reboot G.I. Joe movies entirely, starting with Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, but nothing has been seen since that 2021 release.

4 G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

Rebooting G.I. Joe After Only One Movie

Directed by Jon M. Chu, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is a sequel to and a soft reboot of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. The film picks up the previous movie's plot thread of Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) replacing the President of the United States (Jonathan Pryce) and furthering Cobra's takeover plans. However, the G.I. Joe team is massacred by Cobra, including team leader Duke (Channing Tatum). This leaves Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson) to lead a handful of surviving Joes, including Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) and Flint (D.J. Cotrona).

Bruce Willis s as G.I. Joe's founder, General Joe Colton. However, most of the first movie's actors did not return, and this felt like not so much a sequel as a budget-cutting reboot, even with the killing of Duke and taking Tatum out of the movie, leaving mega-star Johnson as the franchise's new face. The obvious cost-cutting hurts G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and it comes off as a shell of its predecessor despite Dwayne Johnson's movie star presence and decent action.

Retaliation also resets G.I. Joe as a U.S. military organization instead of the international outfit it was in The Rise of Cobra. G.I. Joe: Retaliation feels like a lesser sequel in every way. It earned less than its predecessor, which ended the G.I. Joe movie franchise for eight years, until Snake Eyes. Critics gave it a 29% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and the audience was also not that impressed, with a 48% Popcornmeter score.

3 G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)

The 1980s Animated DTV Release

In the 1980s, Hasbro had big plans to release the animated G.I. Joe: The Movie in theaters. However, one thing got in the way of those plans. The Transformers: The Movie hit theaters and failed commercially, not even making back its budget despite its massive popularity on the small screen. While that film went on to become a cult classic, G.I. Joe: The Movie was pushed onto DTV instead, and that was likely for the best as it has not become a cult classic and is mostly a letdown for the cartoon's fans.

G.I. Joe: The Movie made the mistake of mostly focusing on rookies and young , although Sgt. Slaughter played a big role, thanks to the G.I. Joe and WWE crossover at the time. The plot was silly, with the citizens of Cobra-La turning Cobra Commander into a literal snake for his continued failures and "space pods," giving the plot more of a sci-fi feel than the military escapades that fans wanted to see at the time. The movie also almost killed the beloved Duke, which actually happened in the live-action Retaliation.

2 G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra (2009)

The First G.I. Joe Live-Action Movie

Directed by Stephen Sommers, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra ambitiously tells both the origin of Cobra and Cobra Commander seen through the eyes of Channing Tatum's Duke, who s G.I. Joe with his best friend and comic relief, Ripcord (Marlon Wayans). The main villain is Destro, who runs a sinister arms organization called MARS and created nanotechnology capable of global destruction. Instead of an elite branch of the U.S. military, G.I. Joe is now an international network of soldiers based out of Egypt and led by General Hawk (Dennis Quaid).

The Rise of Cobra gets some things right about G.I. Joe while making substantial changes to the mythology. Longtime G.I. Joe fans find it hardest to reconcile Cobra Commander's new origin and how it ties to Duke and Baroness. However, Destro's origin and motivations are closer to the original stories. The ninjas, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, largely steal the show, and The Rise of Cobra also makes time to explore their shared origin and lifelong rivalry.

The Duke/Baroness/Cobra Commander triangle is a tough pill to swallow

However, the action in The Rise of Cobra is cartoony, and the Joes' featured tech, Accelerator Suits, falter when compared to similar effects in movies like Iron Man. The cast is strong overall, and, in its best moments, The Rise of Cobra does feel like G.I. Joe. The film also has legitimate stakes, especially the destruction of the Eiffel Tower. However, the Duke/Baroness/Cobra Commander triangle is a tough pill to swallow, and The Rise of Cobra was slightly disappointing, resulting in the soft reboot a few years later.

1 Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)

A Look At An Iconic Character

Directed by Robert Schwentke, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins takes a back-to-basics approach similar to Bumblebee. Snake Eyes focuses on arguably the most popular G.I. Joe character and reboots the movie franchise by telling a new origin for Snake Eyes (Henry Golding) and how he became blood brothers-turned-enemies with Storm Shadow (Andrew Koji).

Set primarily in Tokyo, Japan, Snake Eyes's smaller-scale delves into the mythology of the Arashikage ninja clan and introduces a new villain to both Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow named Kenta (Takehiro Hira), who is the leader of the Yakuza and an ally of Cobra. In Snake Eyes' revamped continuity, the G.I. Joe team and Cobra already exist and are represented by Scarlett (Samara Weaving) and The Baroness (Úrsula Corberó), respectively; Snake Eyes also implies a shared history between the two female operatives.

Snake Eyes takes some interesting chances, especially with the title character, who speaks (Snake Eyes is supposed to be mute) and is driven by vengeance for a tragedy he suffered as a child. Similarly, Storm Shadow is presented as a man of honor who feels the Arashikage clan treats him unfairly after he makes a terrible mistake. The performances of Snake Eyes' cast, especially Golding and Koji, are very strong, the gritty action in Snake Eyes is first-rate, and the Tokyo setting adds a visual splendor.

The ing roles by Baroness and Scarlett effectively evoke the greater G.I. Joe vs. Cobra conflict. Snake Eyes also awkwardly introduces some supernatural elements that don't quite click, although they're true to the odd turns into fantasy in the G.I. Joe cartoon. Although Snake Eyes may ultimately not be the G.I. Joe franchise-starter that Hasbro and Paramount hoped for, it's a tidy and good movie in its own right that does leave fans wanting a proper G.I. Joe movie at last.

The Future Of The G.I. Joe Franchise

There is no new G.I. Joe movie coming in the near future. However, there was a hugely exciting moment at the end of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, where Noah (Anthony Ramos) was offered a job working for a secret military organization called G.I. Joe. That was intriguing, as the success of the Transformers movies, even with the critical complaints, makes it seem like a good place to bring back the Joes, and maybe test the waters on a spinoff from this franchise.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said the Joes will return:

"Live-action we are going to deliver a G.I. Joe crossover. I hesitate using the word crossover because I think people think different things about what that means. For me, what it means is the Joes are going to be in the Transformers world and be present... We're still in the early process, in a way, of trying to figure out the balance."

What this could mean for the future of G.I. Joe is that bringing them into Transformers movies could allow them to figure out what works and what doesn't work for the characters and lead the way into a possible new Joes' film. They might not have a significant part to play with the Robots in Disguise, but knowing they exist in that world leaves things open for their return, and with Chris Hemsworth showing interest in taking on a role in G.I. Joe, anything is possible down the line.