Transformers & G.I. Joe Shared Universe: Robert Kirkman Talks ENERGON UNIVERSE

Warning: contains MAJOR spoilers for Void Rivals #1!Today sees the launch of Void Rivals - the hotly anticipated new series from G.I. Joe, and Void Rivals. The Energon Universe is a t venture between Skybound and Hasbro, and will see Kirkman showrunning a vast shared universe which tells stories from all three properties.

Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici's Void Rivals will lead into a slate of new comic series, beginning with a new Transformers series being written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson, and four new G.I. Joe series including Joshua Williamson and Tom Reilly's Duke in December, followed by Williamson and Andrea Milana's Cobra Commander in January 2024. Screen Rant sat down with Kirkman to discuss the launch of the Energon Universe, and where Void Rivals fits into its narrative.

Transformers & G.I. Joe's Shared Energon Universe Begins

Void Rivals kicks off a huge shared continuity called the Energon Universe, which includes both Transformers and G.I. Joe. Where did that idea start - was that the kernel that Void Rivals was built around, or did Void Rivals already exist?

Robert Kirkman: No, that was very much the kernel Void Rivals was built around. When Hasbro reached out to us around two or so years ago, about the possibility of us doing Transformers and G.I. Joe comics, we had to find a new way into these characters, and something to make them new and fresh and exciting. We unfortunately weren't coming in at a time when there had been a massive gap in Transformers and G.I. Joe product. There had been a myriad of movies, there's a Transformers movie coming out, and IDW has been doing a great line of comics that fans have been enjoying. We wanted to differentiate ourselves from them, and try to find a new and exciting, different way to do these characters. Doing a shared universe, but doing it in a different way where you'll see how it rolls out - it's going to start small, and kind of organically grow from title to title, much the way you see Void Rivals has a Transformer in it, but it only has one Transformer in it. And there's some intrigue and mystery to that scene where he appears, and that's going to pay off in Transformers, but we're not rolling out like 500 Transformers. And I'm going to stop saying 'roll out' because it sounds like I'm making a pun.

For me, the Void Rivals stage came from 'what's the most exciting way that we could announce a Transformers and G.I. Joe line of books?' And I thought, as a fan, if I was reading a Brian K. Vaughan comic, and the Smurfs showed up out of nowhere on page twelve, it would be the weirdest, craziest, coolest thing ever.

No offense, but that is now what I want.

Robert Kirkman: We're working on that. But to be reading one book, and then to have an element from something else that was established, that was familiar, that showed up in that book completely unexpectedly but somehow fit, that's something that, as a fan, I would have lost my mind over. So to launch a new book from Lorenzo and I, that is its own concept, it's new characters, it's a new world, it's the same thing I've been doing with Firepower, with Oblivion Song, with Die!Die!Die!, with all the books I've been doing over the last few years, but this one is completely different, and this one is tied into Transformers and G.I. Joe and this whole universe that we're building. I'm always trying to do new and different things, and I think this is as new and different as you can get.

Spinning out of Void Rivals, we’re going to be seeing a new Transformers series and four new G.I. Joe series, with you showrunning the larger world. Does that mean Void Rivals will be the heart of the Energon Universe, or is it just the way in?

Robert Kirkman: I think it's just the way in. The way we're deg things is Void Rivals leads to Transformers leads to G.I. Joe, but each book is going to be its own separate thing. The G.I. Joe line of books - which we'll be talking about more as time goes on - will be much more interconnected, but there will be elements of the G.I. Joe titles appearing in Transformers, elements of Transformers appearing in Void Rivals, it's possible that at some point in the far future, all of these things will get together in a cool way. But we're trying to make sure that reading every book is additive, but each individual book provides its own unique experience, and has its own self-contained narrative that you only have to read that title for. They exist in a shared universe that plays off of each other, and becomes an overall cool experience, but isn't 100% dependent on every title to where it's hard to follow.

Previous versions of Transformers and G.I. Joe have often embraced the idea of a binary war between the good guys and the bad guys, with no real end in sight. But Void Rivals’ first issue seems to already be deconstructing that idea, with two people who aren’t as different as they think. Is that complexity something the Energon Universe is built around and will expand on, or is it specific to Void Rivals?

Robert Kirkman: I think if anything, we're going to be trying to tell as many different stories as possible with these characters. The Energon Universe is going to start in familiar places - when we start with G.I. Joe and Transformers - but I think it's going to go to some unexpected places. The typical stories that everybody loves from these characters, you're definitely going to see that, but I'm hoping that we're also going to be able to break some new ground in some interesting ways as we go.

Void Rivals is set in a huge space opera setting, but it begins with two people marooned on a planet. How quickly do you intend to ramp up the size of that universe, and how much is it about those two people we initially meet?

Robert Kirkman: Issue to issue it's going to expand, so by issue 3, things are pretty big, and even in issue 2, we start to see more of the Sacred Ring through flashbacks and things like that. By issue 6, this is going to be an absolutely massive world. But I like starting with bite-size chunks, so if you're going to be telling a world-spanning story, if you can narrow the first issue down to two people alone on a planet, that's a great entry point. And as you get to know them more, you can start adding more and more elements, and it hopefully won't be too overwhelming. But Void Rivals is an absolutely massive story as you get into it.

You’ve worked with a lot of amazing artists who have given series like Outcast, Fire Power, and Walking Dead very different identities. Was there a reason you specifically wanted to re-team with Lorenzo De Felici again after Oblivion Song?

Robert Kirkman: Yeah, I mean he's great. I love Lorenzo, I love working with Lorenzo, I was upset that I wasn't working with him when Oblivion Song ended. I was thrilled that he was doing KROMA and writing and drawing a book himself, but ever since he started that, I was champing at the bit to try and figure out something else I could do with him. I think especially for Void Rivals, we're creating an entirely new world with these characters, and there's two different civilizations, and two different alien races, and there's just a lot of visual development that's required for that, and Lorenzo is absolutely excellent at that. Being able to see this world through his eyes is a real treat. And as we get further and further into the Void Rivals series, you'll get to see all the crazy stuff that he's inventing for this.

You’ve talked before about listening to different music to capture the mood of a series - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds for The Walking Dead, and Presidents of the United States for Invincible - does Void Rivals have a soundtrack?

Robert Kirkman: Yeah, maybe a lot of David Bowie, I'll go with that.

"The Coolest Comic Book Ever Made"

With what you said about reading Void Rivals - reading a comic and suddenly a Transformer turns up - that feels like something that’s pretty uniquely 'comics.' You’ve worked in comics, TV, and film - most recently with Renfield. Is there a medium you prefer, or is there something that makes comics special?

Robert Kirkman: I definitely prefer comics, because you can do things like that in comics, and I think that comics are like the breeding ground of new ideas. I think that all of Hollywood has proven that out. And it's the best place to take risks, it's the best place to try new and exciting and different things, and it's the best place to keep pushing the envelope until you fail.

The twist of the first issue was told to comic retailers ahead of time, so they could make decisions about stocking. Do you feel like people have kept the secret?

Robert Kirkman: Yeah, it was! I think that there were some minor leaks here and there, but overall I could not be more proud of our retail community. It's a great turning point, and I think I'm going to start revealing more and more things to that group. They are our retail partners, they're the people that are providing the books to the fans, and as a testing ground - as a publisher - Image Comics and Skybound have realized, "Okay, great, we can start opening things up more, and we don't have to play things as close to the vest as we have in the past. I'm really excited about the potential that opens up moving forward.

If you were recommending Void Rivals to somebody with one sentence, what would that sentence be?