[RoadPigRules]

There is no way to translate Joe as it was in 85 to 2019. Military is different, people are different, and the country is different. There is no sense of patriotism anymore. The horrors of our past are glossed over and our kids are shielded from everything. G.I. Joe is not a property made for these times. Terrorism is more real now than ever and too many soft ppl would throw so much criticism at Hasbro for making toys that are "real." Also, if EVERY nationality is not represented out the gate or a woman is not the leader or most competent character, there would be backlash. In my opinion these companies are better off not dealing with the bullshit and letting properties sit. The most popular iteration of Joe and Power Rangers are fraught with "racist" elements but those elements were not pushed to the forefront when kids were just enjoying their childhoods. Snowflakes and social media have killed so many porperties' and careers.

[samsson37]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoadPigRules

There is no way to translate Joe as it was in 85 to 2019. Military is different, people are different, and the country is different. There is no sense of patriotism anymore. The horrors of our past are glossed over and our kids are shielded from everything. G.I. Joe is not a property made for these times. Terrorism is more real now than ever and too many soft ppl would throw so much criticism at Hasbro for making toys that are "real." Also, if EVERY nationality is not represented out the gate or a woman is not the leader or most competent character, there would be backlash. In my opinion these companies are better off not dealing with the bullshit and letting properties sit. The most popular iteration of Joe and Power Rangers are fraught with "racist" elements but those elements were not pushed to the forefront when kids were just enjoying their childhoods. Snowflakes and social media have killed so many porperties' and careers.

Yeeeeeah I kind of have to agree with all of this..

[snakeeyes1998]

I think G.I. Joe's best shot would be to go the Fortnight route. Have each character be a playable character and they could weave in the back story a little at a time. Us old school fans would know the backstory already. If Hasbro would to get off their collective asses, wake up and get a video game developed you could copy the theme of fortnight. Have the Joes build their headquarters, guard towers, forward observation sets, and Cobra build the Terror Drome, Bunkers, Etc. Take it a step further and have the vehicles available to get to one section of the game to another.
The blueprint is there, it is popular as heck and as we all noticed over the holiday season the Fortnight toys sold well.

I think this in more important than having a cartoon. On a side note, Tubi has all the old Joe cartoons. I didn't realize how many episodes of GI Joe Renegades I missed. It really is a pretty good cartoon. It has my 3 year daughter stop asking to watch Paw Patrol and PJ Mask and start asking to watch the "Ninja" (what she calls Snake Eyes).

[Bubbavader]

Ash Carter and GI Joe, no just no...

[bluesparrow]

Here's my thing about "you can't update it for 2019 because everyone hates the military" etc. Yeah, you can't do the "rah rah yay Reagan 80s militarism!" bs anymore, because that's over. But that's where the word "update" comes in. And it doesn't have to be updated into something awful. That attempt last year in the comics was dumb. You can't piss off the current fanbase and expand it at the same time. You have to appeal to them and then appeal to people outside of it in addition.

I mean seriously, what's the difference between Metal Gear Solid and GI Joe when it comes down to actual plot style and characterization? MGS is more extreme and its creator Hideo Kojima has no restraint in doing wacky stuff. But they're both in the same genre: sci fi/fantasy military



The main character is a soldier of fortune, who has ninja training and a cool military look. GI Joe more or less invented this type of character.

Look at these villains:





They're edgier than most GI Joe villains(not having to fit into a child's tv show from the mid-1980s) and I'm not saying it should be exactly the same at all, but the genre of military fantasy/sci fi which GI Joe is entirely about CAN be updated to be something cool that kids, teens, and adults will like. Pursuit of Cobra went in this direction and it was great! GI Joe can do this! And frankly since Metal Gear Solid is done it will have less competition if it went in this direction.

I'm not hopeful the movies will do this because the studios are only good at adaptation, not creating their own content. Remember Snake Eyes' stupid lip mask in Rise of Cobra? They based that on a comic cover where SE's mask showed his lips protruding through the cloth. You just know the director was looking at pictures of Snake Eyes and said "this image is cool do this costume" and the costume designer who'd never read comics though the lips were part of the costume. Nobody much cared so it didn't get fixed until the next movie.

But this can easily be done in the comics. The comics have led the way for this franchise in the past and it can do it again, as long as the publisher doesn't keep chasing cheap fads and crossovers.

[Breakerfan]

I've seen this thread about 50 times over the years and keep hearing the same things. I don't buy the nobody is patriotic line. People where I live are very supportive of the military. The hard truth to swallow is this. GI Joe had some movies that were not very good. They had a decent cartoon on a channel that nobody had in their cable package. They had toys that never got reordered after the first case in stores regardless if people wanted to buy them or not. IDW kept the comic alive by bringing in Hama and restarting the original continuity for old school fans, but their new visions were a mess and only got worse. It isn't rocket science. Hasbro's marketing and distrubution luck sucked for the GI Joe line for over a decade. They tried. They couldn't hit the mark they hit with Star Wars and Transformers. It is what it is, a series of misteps and bad luck. Maybe it will change, maybe it won't. Dumping millions in a video game probably won't solve anything. Video games are a tough market. My two cents? A cartoon every kid can see is probably the best bet. Line up toys to be in the stores at the same time the cartoon actually airs will help a bunch. Ninja Turtles did it. Take notes. Build out from there.

[shepherdman]

To me it's always fun when the Joe's are more grounded and the situation is fantastic. Transformers,Predators, Kong, heck even Aliens were exactly how I picture GI Joe. Now just make the characters have the one piece that makes them identifiable i.e. a black beret, a blonde guy with a bandolier, a general with a brown bomber jacket a redhead female, a commando in all black...its the antagonist of obstacle that should be fantasy. Let the Joe's be real people who are exceptional at their job

[Breakerfan]

I like what you said and really agree with that. Thinking back, Aliens and Preadator were very much GI Joe in my head growing up. I believe the formula of realistic, yet individually identifiable, heros vs more out there (yet plausible to a fictional degree) villians works for me and probably was a key component of their early success.

[Turtle Master]

Given the current success of Paw Patrol, what if they took the existing character roster of G.I. Joe and Cobra but made them into animals?

Kids would love it. And actual animals like Junkyard and Timber would be non-talking animals in the show (like Pluto in the Mickey Mouse universe).

[snakeeyes1998]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turtle Master

Given the current success of Paw Patrol, what if they took the existing character roster of G.I. Joe and Cobra but made them into animals?

Kids would love it. And actual animals like Junkyard and Timber would be non-talking animals in the show (like Pluto in the Mickey Mouse universe).

Um No!