Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Ending Explained, and the G.I. Joe Crossover Setup

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts brings the Autobots into the 1990s and pairs them with the Maximals. Its ending sets up a crossover with G.I. Joe that could open the door to a shared Hasbro universe. I grew up watching the animated Beast Wars series, so I had high hopes going in. I came out thinking the film is fine and enjoyable at times. I give it a 6 out of 10.

I'm not sure whether it's a reboot of the Transformers or not. What I do know is that the 2023 film leans on Beast Wars lore, calls back to the original cartoon, and ends on a reveal that ties it to another Hasbro property. Full spoilers follow.

Unicron and Scourge chase the Maximals and the transwarp key

Rise of the Beasts opens with Unicron, the planet devouring dark god, in the distant future. He is trying to destroy the Maximal homeworld. He sends Scourge, his trusted general, to retrieve the transwarp key. That technology would let Unicron jump from universe to universe, feasting on anything and everything forever. It's fairly heady material to set up a movie, especially for anyone without much knowledge of Transformers or Beast Wars lore.

The Maximals' leader looks like a much more metallic version of Optimus Prime. He promotes Primal as the new leader of the Maximals and stays behind to fight off Scourge, buying the others enough time to escape with the key. The Maximals are transported to what is supposed to be prehistoric Earth via the Ark, if we're going off the animated Beast Wars lore. Their old leader dies at the hands of Scourge, who rips off his insignia and fuses it to his own body.

Noah and Elena find the key in 1994 Brooklyn

The story then jumps to 1994, with hip hop and Brooklyn vibes flowing as we meet the human characters. Noah is a former military electronics expert who is struggling to find a job. He needs money to support his family and his brother, who suffers from a sickle cell disorder. When the job hunt goes nowhere, he turns to something borderline illegal.

Elena is an overlooked intern at the Ellis Island Museum whose boss keeps taking credit for her discoveries. She is, without question, the expositional mouthpiece of this movie, and I feel bad for Dominique Fishback. The two stories run side by side. Noah tries to steal a souped up car, only to find out it's Mirage, who takes him on an uncontrolled police chase. The pair become fast friends, and Noah goes along to meet the other Autobots hiding on Earth.

The Autobots want to go home because the transwarp key has been activated. That happened because Elena stayed late at the museum running tests on a new artifact. It crumbled and revealed the key hidden inside. The same signal alerts Scourge and his Terrorcon allies, Nightbird and Battletrap. In the fight that follows, Bumblebee's spark is extinguished and Scourge escapes with the key.

Peru, Airazor and Noah's choice over the second half of the key

Airazor arrives late in that fight and explains that Scourge only got half of the key. The other half is hidden in Peru, under the control of the other Maximals. What follows is a big adventure full of mumbo jumbo. In Peru, the Maximals tell the Autobots they are warriors of the past and future, because they used the transwarp key to travel back in time.

Scourge tracks them down through Airazor, who had been infected by his dark energy in an earlier battle. Primal makes the tough decision to end Airazor's spark because of the infection. Meanwhile, Noah is about to destroy the Maximals' half of the key. That would save Earth from Unicron, but it would also strand the Autobots on Earth.

Optimus pleads with him, finally seeing how humans and Autobots can work together, and Noah stands down. Scourge swoops in and takes the second half. With both halves combined, he creates what looks like a tower straight out of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, lava and all. Unicron opens a giant portal in the sky, ready to take a big bite out of Earth.

Mirage becomes Noah's exosuit and Bumblebee returns

Terrorcon drones pour out of the tower. The Maximals and Autobots agree to fight as a distraction while Noah and Elena sneak through underground tunnels to enter a special access code and deactivate the portal console. Scourge catches on, but Mirage steps in to distract him. Scourge bests Mirage, and in his final moments Mirage tells Noah to take the wheel, transforming into an exosuit for Noah to wear.

That idea is straight out of the original Transformers cartoon series, though the suit looks a lot more like Mega Man X's armor once he has all of Zero's upgrades. Optimus Prime and Noah team up against Scourge as a giant energy blast from the transwarp tower pulls Unicron even closer. The blast also activates the raw Energon in the ground, which boosts Bumblebee's spark back to life.

Probably the best scene of the movie is Bumblebee skydiving back into the action while LL Cool J's Mama Said Knock You Out plays. Chef's kiss. His return helps the Maximals and Autobots on the battlefield and gives Prime enough of a boost to get the advantage on Scourge. Prime cuts off his arm, rips out his spine like a Mortal Kombat fatality, and reclaims the Autobot emblem that was torn from Bumblebee when he died.

Optimus Prime's sacrifice strands the Autobots on Earth

In a last ditch effort, Prime chooses to sacrifice himself to destroy the transwarp key, which strands the Autobots on Earth. The destruction triggers a giant vacuum pulling toward the Unicron portal. Prime tries to anchor himself to the ground with his ax, but the pull is too strong and the ax starts to slip.

Right as it's about to give way, Noah grabs Prime, and Primal joins in to hold them both, getting them clear of the blast radius of the exploding key. When they regroup, Prime and Primal give speeches about how Unicron is still out there and will do anything to get to Earth, and they say to let him come. It looks like the two factions are now firm allies. The Autobots head back to New York City, and Noah looks over the Mirage exosuit that helped save his life.

The G.I. Joe reveal with Michael Kelly's character

The film closes with Noah back home in New York, still looking for work to support his family. He sits down with Michael Kelly's character in a strange warehouse, interviewing for what is supposed to be a simple security guard job. Kelly says Noah's resume is pretty lackluster. Noah launches into an explanation of how he saved the world with the Autobots and Maximals during the film's events, without outing them, like a child telling stories to get the job.

Kelly reveals he knows all about Noah's exploits. He slides over a business card and says he wants Noah on his team. Kelly then touches a plaque shaped like a shield on the wall behind his desk, and the wall moves to reveal a huge military facility. As the two descend on an elevator platform, a futuristic looking jet is being built in the background. Noah, like the audience, is very confused, until he turns over the card and sees a logo resembling a falcon, with a star and the words G.I. Joe.

So the Transformers are teaming up with the Joes, and it looks like this is the start of the fabled Hasbroverse. Get ready for souped up muscle cars and lots of baby oiled guys with cut off sleeves.

Why a Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover makes sense

This makes sense to me, and I'm surprised it wasn't done earlier with so many cinematic universes running amok. With Hasbro owning the rights to both properties, it feels right and safe to have them feed off one another. That was especially true given the rumor at the time of a G.I. Joe reboot in the works, because 2021's Snake Eyes was not it.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura dropped a few hints in interviews alluding to the crossover. He said "for sure it's going to play a part in the next movie," and added that "the audience reaction has been really gratifying to that very small but very cool little beat."

This also isn't the first time the franchises have met. The first crossover came in a handful of issues of the 1986 Marvel Comics run G.I. Joe and the Transformers, where the factions teamed up to fight over control of a mobile power station and the Joes hilariously and accidentally blew up Bumblebee. Other team up and versus comic runs followed, and some of the Joes cameoed in the third season of the original Transformers cartoon. The pair have history. It feels like Mirage and Noah will be the initial connective tissue between the two franchises, probably leading to an Autobots and Joes versus Cobra and Decepticons Saturday morning cartoon battle royale. The previous Transformers film already had a big military presence, so slap a new name on them and they are now the Joes.

The mid-credits scene brings Mirage back

There is also a small mid-credits scene. Noah is tinkering with what looks like an old junkyard vehicle pieced together. When he adds the finishing touches, the car transforms back into Mirage. His old buddy is back.

The end of the movie led us to believe Mirage died at the hands of Scourge. But the exosuit technology Noah used in the final battle must have still held some of Mirage's spark and essence, allowing him to be implanted into this new car skeleton. It looks like this duo will continue with the franchise, similar to Sam and Bumblebee or Charlie and Bumblebee. That depends on a sequel to this Beast Wars story getting a green light, which at the time I thought was probably going to happen, especially with the G.I. Joe tie in.

My verdict on Rise of the Beasts: 6 out of 10

I think Rise of the Beasts is fine and enjoyable at times. It separates itself from the overall tone of the Bay films by infusing everything with a 90s hip hop soundtrack. As a kid who binged way too much of the Beast Wars animated series and owned several of the action figures, I was beyond ecstatic to see these beasts doing their transforming shenanigans. The Mirage and Noah team up could blossom into something really cool, like Bumblebee and Sam, especially with the setup at the end. I also liked what Steven Caple Jr. did with Prime, making him a more jaded character growing toward the Autobot leader we know and love.

Unfortunately, I'm giving it a 6 out of 10. Several moments and jokes land, but the movie is stuffed with exposition. Fishback's character is a talking head delivering information the audience needs to know, and that bleeds over into other characters too. After finally bringing the Maximals into the picture, the result is lackluster, because they have to share the spotlight. That's probably because the filmmakers were scared casual audiences wouldn't understand. I also think they dropped the ball by not including any actual Decepticons or Predacons like Waspinator. Where's my boy? They did him dirty.

The story goes through the motions, and the emotional beats don't hit at all, so in the end, does it matter? The Joes and Transformers teaming up could be something very cool, though, and on that front I'm cautiously optimistic.