EXCLUSIVE: One star is still in the dark about their potential G.I. Joe reboot return.

Following the disappointing response and box office bombing of Henry Golding’s Snake Eyes prequel, Paramount quietly turned their focus to development on a new reboot of the franchise, initially hiring both controversial writer Max Landis and The Righteous Gemstones‘ Danny McBride to pen potential scripts for the new film. The studio would ultimately pass on the former, but is moving ahead with the latter, having officially hired him to direct in July 2026, and filming expected to begin next year.

Now, in an interview with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley for his new horror-thriller Time of Death, Michael Kelly was asked about his potential return for Paramount’s G.I. Joe reboot. The star, who made his franchise debut in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, confirmed that he has “absolutely no idea” whether he will appear in the new film, though expressing that “Danny McBride can call me” and that he would “love to do that“:

Michael Kelly: I love the idea of crossing those two worlds over. I think it would be incredible. That’s how it was pitched to me. In the dream world, that’s how they’d like to go with the thing. But who knows? You never know with these things.

When reflecting on how his G.I. Joe-centric cameo in 2023’s Transformers prequel was pitched to him, the four-time Emmy nominee couldn’t fully recall the specifics, but did share that Paramount and Di Bonaventura Pictures told him they “would like to” bring him back in some capacity in the future, but that “right now, what we’re offering you is this.” Kelly even shared that his scene was meant to be tacked to after the credits rolled, only for the studios to then feel “it’d be better to use it in the film at the end.”

Presented with the possibility of acting like Nick Fury for the G.I. Joe franchise and recruiting various team members, Kelly acknowledged that “I would love to do that s–t.” He further shared that part of his interest in continuing with the action franchise would be as a way of staying close with his 14-year-old son.

Though talks have always floated about a potential crossover between the two, Kelly’s franchise debut in Rise of the Beasts marked the first official step towards a G.I. Joe and Transformers crossover at Paramount. He was seen interviewing Anthony Ramos’ Noah for a potential job with the organization, thanks to his history as a military electronics expert, while also offering support with his sick brother.

Development on the crossover quickly progressed after Rise of the Beasts‘ ending, with Monsterverse and Jurassic World alum Derek Connolly being tapped to pen the script. However, in the wake of the Paramount and Skydance merger, and due in part to the 2023 film’s underwhelming box office reception, the actual status of the Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover currently remains unknown.

Over the past three years, Kelly has frequently asserted that he didn’t know what the plans for his return would be, much as he does above. However, given McBride’s script for the G.I. Joe reboot is indeed finished, and the plan is to begin production on the film sometime next year, it does seem likely that Kelly’s future in the franchise will start to become clearer very soon, whether it’s as a supporting player or a Nick Fury-like figure.

Cast

Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid, Ray Park, Sienna Miller, Lee Byung-hun, Rachel Nichols, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Henry Golding, Andrew Koji

Created by

Donald Levine

G.I. Joe is a long-running franchise centered around a line of action figures produced by Hasbro, which has expanded into a wide array of media including comic books, animated series, and films. The franchise is known for its depiction of an elite military unit, G.I. Joe, fighting against the terrorist organization Cobra. Over the decades, G.I. Joe has become a significant cultural icon, particularly in the United States, with its slogan “A Real American Hero.”