The sequel to the prequel of a 5-film series is officially crossing over with a 3-time franchise failure

Salacious spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will follow throughout.

Regardless of whether you’re excited or not, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now playing in theaters, although the jury remains well and truly out as to whether or not it’s going to prove successful enough to launch that trilogy Paramount has already announced plans for.

After all, Michael Bay’s five-film stint at the helm did huge damage to the property, with takings dropping by over half a billion dollars between Age of Extinction and The Last Knight. As a result, Bumblebee might have been the best-reviewed Transformers movie by a mile and change, but it’s also the lowest-grossing.

Naturally, then, the studio has decided to add a mid-credits scene teasing a crossover with another of its IPs that’s failed three times in a row. That’s right; at the end of Rise of the Beasts, Anthony Ramos’ protagonist is handed a business card marked with G.I. Joe branding. Just when you thought the Autobots vs. Decepticons saga couldn’t get any more uninspired, the stakes have been raised.

To be fair, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura did threaten the world with a Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover not that long ago, but the biggest question is obviously a gigantic “why”? The Rise of Cobra, Retaliation, and Snake Eyes were all resolutely panned by critics and largely shunned by audiences, with the latter in particular bombing hard.

Transformers was in need of a fresh coat of paint seeing as there’s apparently no other option than the saga continuing, but setting it up to cross-pollinate with a brand that’s experienced nothing but failure may not be the smartest way to go about it.