Put this firmly in the rumor mill category at the moment, but as we’ve been discussing throughout the day, Rich from ARealAmericanHero.com is reporting that a “very trusted source” has confided to him that a follow up for the G.I. Joe: Renegades animated series is currently in the works.

The full text of the article is below:

“Great news Renegades fans! We’ve received word from a trusted source that a follow-up to the Hub’s G.I. Joe: Renegades animated series is in the works. While we can’t confirm if the season/series is in preliminary discussions or in development, we can verify aspirations to establish the new season/series as a continuation to the first season of Renegades and the plan to continue using Clément Sauvé’s animation style. Despite some reports that Renegades underperformed, our source (who our twitter friend @twitzilleris jokingly referring to as Deep-Six Throat) says Renegades actually did quite well.

Coincidentally, we see some possible similarities with the transitions of Renegades and the second season of the A Real American Hero animated series. If you recall, the first season of A Real American Hero centered around Duke and Scarlet as the lead characters, while season two shifted focus bringing Flint and Lady Jaye to the forefront. Could this changing of the guard be reprised 30 years later? While it’s only a hypothetical scenario, it is an interesting possibility since Hasbro claims to have putRenegades on hiatus to explore ways to continue the G.I. Joe: Retaliation story through animation. We’ll have more information as it becomes available.”

As I said, this must be considered very deep in rumor territory, but I do know from various conversations I’ve had with cast members that ratings were indeed very good and the feeling among folks at The Hub was that the series was a raging success.  News of its cancellation (which came to most folks before the series had even aired) was a great shock, and knowing the solid foundation they had in place, this news does not necessarily surprise me.

Normally I wouldn’t post something like this that was in such rumor territory, but I do trust Rich, and based on my own personal conversations with some folks involved in the series, it’s quite possible this is back on the table.

Granted, if the first steps are just being taken now, we likely won’t have any kind of product until 2013 at the earliest, but it’s nice to know that there might be the beginnings of something here.  Let’s all cross our fingers.  Thanks to Rich from ARealAmericanHero.com for relaying this intel.  That is, of course, if this rumor pans out.  Time will tell.