One of the reasons why G.I. Joe: Renegades was such a great show is likely due to the exceptional writing team in charge of the show. Star Wars: The Clone Wars veteran Henry Gilroy was at the top of the writers’ food chain alongside Marty Isenberg, who was one of the brainchildren behind Transformers: Animated.
In a recent episode of Star Wars themed podcast The Forcecast, Henry Gilroy came on to talk a bit about his work on Clone Wars, and also revealed some juice about the potential future of G.I. Joe: Renegades. Hint – there isn’t one. 🙁
You can check out the episode right here, and the Renegades talk is very brief (around the 58 minute and 54 second mark). I’ve also transcribed the information below…with a healthy dose of paraphrasing, so definitely listen to the episode for the accurate phrasing.
The Forcecast: Season 2 of Renegades, when are we going to see it?
Henry Gilroy: Actually, you’re probably not going to… if you watch Renegades and saw the new trailer for G.I. Joe 2, it’s basically the same plot. The next incarnation of G.I. Joe animated is probably going to have something to do with the movie.
The Forcecast: I’m really disappointed about G.I. Joe…
Henry Gilroy: There’s been talk of maybe… doing something to tie up the series, which may or may not happen…we can always hold out hope for Renegades.
So, really kind of confirmed what we’d already suspected. G.I. Joe: Renegades isn’t on so much of a “hiatus” as a “retirement” with the next iteration (if there is one) focusing more on the Retaliation universe.
Gilroy also mentions that he is leaving Hasbro to work on another project..a Hulk animated series with Paul Dini. So it sounds like whatever next version of G.I. Joe animation there might be, he won’t be involved, which is a shame.
Thanks very much to Paul Timmermans who left the info on the What’s on Joe Mind Facebook page.
I very disapointed about second season(((
Bah. Not like we didn’t see it coming. Oh well. Least we got a couple toys out of it and a fine show. Could have gotten MORE awesome toys, but thems the breaks.
That sucks…I hate how Transformers Prime got such rave reviews, I thought the writing in Renegades was far superior. I hat to see it go, and I cringe at a new incarnation…especially if they are basing it off of the new movie…that usually doesn’t work well.
Renegades is on as much of a hiatus as Sigma 6.
I liked Renegades okay but I don’t have any real desire to see anything more from that “universe”. I thought the series ending with the Joes getting their names cleared and Cobra Commander beaten but alive was a fine wrap up. That kind of vague resolution is good enough for a one and done series.
Whatever comes next animation-wise, I really hope it doesn’t look like Renegades. I’m looking at a couple of 30th and Renegades figures and if you didn’t know any better you’d think someone made a mistake at the factory with the Renegades cards because that art looks completely out of place.
To me there doesn’t seem to be a plan with Gi Joe. Hasbro deemed 1:18 scale didn’t work so it was on to 8 inch. They decided that didn’t work so it was back to 1:18 with the 25th anniv. That was cut for a movie that was a smasmortion. Resolute was cool but didn’t last long and then it was on to Renegades. Apparently the thought process was, “Renegades is popular so lets move on!” Now we are to Retaliation and Roadblock leading the Joes who is a third tier character at best. I don’t see this happening with other brands. Clone Wars is in their 4th season I believe and TF Prime is getting a second season. Some days I think the Joe brand is being used as a beta test for other things.
Renegades… what the hell where they thinking with an A-Team plot that shitty animation… thank god it’s gone!
What would be better, some generic Japanese style animation?
Really?? That’s the best excuse you can think of???
we have a very different opinion. I actually prefered this to the movie especially how it makes better sense to why snake eye cant talk, how duke isn’t the real leader but has to try though his challenged. Cause really if you have a military force with 1000 big names why is it difficult to take down an enemy with less than a hundred big names and 1000 minions….
Getting hit by shrapnel from an explosion, like in the comic, is not beyond belief, it happens all the time, the last two wars in the middle east should be proof enough. Like I said, the helicopter crash had far more meaning to it because Snake Eyes saved Scarlett’s life and Snake still wanted to continue the mission despite his injures, it showed friendship, love and dedication. Storm Shadow in the comics was a close friend and brother to Snake Eyes because he saved his life in Vietnam and offered him a home after Snake’s family was killed. In Renegades, Storm Shadow ended up getting daddy issues, got pissed and threw a ninja star at him… wow… does it make more sense for Snake not talk? Maybe… is it good storytelling and characterization writing?? Hell no!
As for Duke… a boring useless character that was created to sell toys and has zero effect on every single version of G.I. Joe but is forced into the storylines regardless. It’s not surprising that both the live action film and Renegades took from Snake Eyes’s past and given to Duke since he has nothing that makes him interesting at all.
“The main problem I had was that the folks at Hasbro and the writers on the cartoon show just treated Duke as if he was interchangeable with Hawk. This is why Duke was never really developed as a character in the comic. There was also a design problem in that he looked too similar to Hawk.”
Larry Hama
well I see your point… too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, the show surely had its short comings
The comics already stated and showed that Snake Eyes can’t talk because of the helicopter crash, that event had far more meaning to it. Renegades reason is that Storm Shadow was turned into a jealous little brat… the comic book Storm Shadow is nowhere near that shallow.
Duke was never the original leader, Hawk was, but since he was pushed aside, most have forgotten him.
G.I. Joe Sunbow (Cancelled)
G.I. Joe DiC (Cancelled)
G.I. Joe Extreme (Cancelled)
G.I. Joe Sigma 6 (Cancelled)
G.I. Joe Renegades (Cancelled)
Sorry people but G.I. Joe doesn’t have a big enough fanbase to keep a TV series on the air. When people heard “A-Team” and saw the crappy artwork style… Renegades was doomed from the start. Snake Eyes was the only person keeping that show alive but that wasn’t going to last forever. G.I. Joe Renegades did the same thing that X-Men: Evolution did, they changed there looks too much and the whole storyline just wasn’t the same.
I didn’t believe for one second that they were simply waiting for the 2nd film to come and go… there was no proof to that at all. When you don’t get a renewal for a second season, that means there not coming back… DUH!
You know, some shows just end. I don’t know why people assume that some shows had the chance to just go on and on forever. The art was a bit different but I got used to it by like, the second episode. X-Mn Evolution did quite well btw.
All those GI Joe shows ended because there ratings were too low and most only lasted 2 seasons.
Sunbow (2 seasons)
GI Joe DiG (2 seasons)
Extreme (2 seasons)
Sigma 6 (2 seasons)
Renegades (1 season)
Hasbro had no faith in it, they stuck with Transformers: Prime and most of the fan base didn’t care for it. When it comes to X-Men the Animated Series from the 90s and Evolution… most people pick the 90s series. It may not have been a 100% like the comics, but there some effort put into that. Evolution is just writers and producers thinking that teenagers are interesting characters and only fangirls or this sorry ass Twilight generation is into that.
How come gi joe doesnt have any black villians?
I’m curious why Cobra doesn’t have any african american troops or an african american scientist or warrior. Quite odd. No hispanics cobra warriors.
Because they already have a bad rep. Why join a terrorist group and make it worse?
Given the fact that most blacks and hispanics in the US commit more crimes, maybe there should be black and hispanic Cobra members. But then again, there mostly just petty criminals and Cobra would want professional soldiers.
It was made during a time when they were just barely making black characters period. Any new incarnation could always create one or two.
The is Hasbro has no idea what they’re doing half the time when it comes to marketing. No commercials in regular circulation, no coinciding animated series for G.I. Joe (which means that children aren’t keeping familiar with the characters), and not pushing major retailers with incentives to push their product. These are things that Hasbro used to be great at, but the current Hasbro’s marketing department is beyond awful
The problem is Hasbro has no idea what they’re doing half the time when it comes to marketing. No commercials in regular circulation, no coinciding animated series for G.I. Joe (which means that children aren’t keeping familiar with the characters), and not pushing major retailers with incentives to push their product. These are things that Hasbro used to be great at, but the current Hasbro’s marketing department is beyond awful.