Comics G.I. Joe originated from a comic strip in the 1940s called "Private Breger".
Television Marvel Productions and
Sunbow Productions released
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero in 1983 to promote the 3.75 inch (9.5 cm) toyline. The premise was "good vs. evil" as explained in the show's opening theme song, provided by
Jackson Beck (previously known for his work as
Popeye's nemesis Bluto): "'G.I. Joe' is the code name for America's daring, highly trained special mission force. Its purpose: to defend human freedom against
Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world". The show featured physical fighting and high-tech weapons as a way to compensate for toned-down violence and lack of bullets in what was intended to be a children's program. The show also featured
public service announcements placed at the end of each episode. These PSAs ended with the phrase: "Now I know!" or "And knowing is half the battle". The series ran for a total of 95 episodes, from 1983 to 1986. The animated series was canceled after the release of
G.I. Joe: The Movie, but made a significant return with the animation company
DiC taking over where
Sunbow/
Marvel left off, and ran from 1989 to 1991. DiC released a 5-part mini-series entitled "Operation: Dragonfire", in which the Joes faced off once again against Cobra as they tried to take control of an energy source known only as 'dragonfire'. In this mini-series, Cobra Commander was also returned to a semi-human state by the energy itself while Serpentor, the Cobra emperor, was turned into an iguana by the dragonfire. This mini-series was successful enough for DiC to produce
2 more seasons. In 1995, Sunbow returned to produce
G.I. Joe Extreme, an animated series based upon the namesake toy line. This series, along with the toy line, was canceled after 2 seasons, broadcast from 1995 to 1997. In the 2000s, a new interest in the "Real American Hero" toy line brought about new lines, including
Spy Troops (2003),
Valor vs. Venom (2004), and
Sigma 6 (2005–2007). In 2009,
G.I. Joe: Resolute was launched. This new series was more realistic and contained graphic violence and dark themes, with Cobra portrayed as a serious threat, a sharp contrast to the relatively lighter-toned animated series that preceded it.
Resolute was originally released as mini webisodes, with the full series later broadcast on
Cartoon Network's
Adult Swim. In 2010,
The Hub launched
G.I. Joe: Renegades, in which the Joes became fugitives seeking to clear their names while Cobra worked towards world domination under the guise of a pharmaceutical company. The series' last episode aired 2011. It has also been spoofed by the cult animated sci-fi series
Futurama in the episode "
Saturday Morning Fun Pit". In 2014, the American sitcom
Community featured an episode ("
G.I. Jeff") where one of the main characters dreams that he and his friends are characters in the 1983 cartoon series. The episode was animated in the same style and featured some of the same voice actors as the cartoon. The episode also features scenes where the character's mind is trying to get back to reality, but keeps getting caught in G.I. Joe commercials. In 2021, Paramount TV Studios,
eOne,
Skydance and
Amazon Prime Video are developing the first live action G.I. Joe TV series that will focus on
Lady Jaye with
Erik Oleson serving as the creator and showrunner.
Film Many movies have been made based upon G.I. Joe and the toy lines that developed from the action figure. The
G.I. Joe: Real American Hero animated series was followed up by
G.I. Joe: The Movie. The film had been released direct-to-video in 1987 because of the perceived box office failure of another animated movie –
The Transformers: The Movie. Inspired by viewers' reaction to Optimus Prime's death,
G.I. Joe: The Movie was re-dubbed, cutting out the death of one of the main characters,
Duke. Instead, he falls into a coma and recovers (unseen) at the movie's end. Also, the main villain, Cobra Commander, met his own demise when he was turned into a living snake by mutant spores created by a new enemy, Cobra-La. Filmmaker Gregory P. Grant made a film using old GI Joe figurines simply called
Ode to GI Joe which played at film festivals and earned him a
Student Academy Award. A direct to video animated series was created for the Sgt. Savage line, packaged with an exclusive Sgt. Savage figure in 1994. Next in the G.I. Joe-based line of movies was the 2003 release of
Spy Troops: The Movie, Hasbro's first computer-animated feature which coincided with the release of its "Spy Troops" header line. It is followed by
Valor vs. Venom (2004), in response to sales from "Spy Troops". This was Hasbro's second commissioned feature using computer graphics to coincide with the line of the same name. By 2005, Hasbro had entered into an exclusive agreement with Paramount Pictures to have them distribute any future features based on the "Real American Heroes" line, but by the time a third movie was to be created, this time called,
Attack of the BATS, Hasbro's sales on the "Real American Heroes" line had once again slumped, and the project was scrapped. In 2009
Stephen Sommers directed a big budget Hollywood live-action movie based on G.I. Joe. The first film in what is intended to be a franchise, is
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, stars
Channing Tatum as Duke,
Ray Park as Snake Eyes,
Christopher Eccleston as Destro,
Jonathan Pryce in the role of the
President of the United States, and
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander. Tatum describes the film as being a cross between
X-Men,
Transformers and
Mission Impossible: "It's a huge $170 million movie. It's just a big kid sort of driven film". The movie showcased the main members of G.I. Joe and Cobra. While some characters held true to the cartoon adaptations, others differed markedly in significant respects. As well, the storyline gave a different foundation for the battle between G.I. Joe and Cobra. The movie is based in present time (however at the beginning of the movie it states "In the not too distant future") and shows glimpses of each character's history. In the movie, Cobra sets out to cause destruction using high tech weapons and sell them to ruthless terrorists. The G.I. Joe members join to stop Cobra from becoming a global terrorist organization. To promote the film,
G.I. Joe: The Invasion of Cobra Island was produced as a viral campaign. The short animated two-parter used stop motion and puppet animation utilizing Hasbro's toy line, and was produced by R.M. Productions Ltd. The sequel
G.I. Joe: Retaliation directed by
Jon M. Chu and starring
Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock was scheduled to be released in June 2012 but was delayed until March 2013. In the film, the Joes are framed as traitors by Zartan, who is still impersonating the
President of the United States, and Cobra Commander now has all the world leaders under
Cobra's control, with their advanced warheads aimed at innocent populaces around the world. Outnumbered and out gunned, the Joes form a plan with the original G.I. Joe
General Joseph Colton to overthrow the Cobra Commander and his allies Zartan, Storm Shadow and
Firefly. A Reboot,
Snake Eyes directed by
Robert Schwentke and starring
Henry Golding as
the title character, was released on July 23, 2021. The film tells an origin story of the title character. The films received mixed reviews by the critics. The team appear in the end of
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Where Noah Diaz is invited to join the secret military organization
G.I. Joe, who will cover his brother Kris healthcare. On April 11, 2024, a crossover with the Transformers and G.I. Joe was announced in
CinemaCon, with Michael Bay, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian, Tom DeSanto and Don Murphy returning as producers, and with a possible theater release in 2026.
Video games There were several
video game adaptations of G.I. Joe, including
G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike by
Parker Brothers for the
Atari 2600 and
Intellivision (1983),
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero by
Epyx for the
Apple II and the
Commodore 64 (1985),
Action Force by
Virgin Games for the
Commodore 64 (1987), a
G.I. Joe video game by
Taxan for the
Nintendo Entertainment System (1991), a
G.I. Joe arcade game by
Konami for
arcades (1992), and
G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor by
Capcom for the
Nintendo Entertainment System (1992).
A game for
Wii,
Xbox 360,
PlayStation 3,
PlayStation 2,
PSP and
Nintendo DS was released to coincide with the first live-action G.I. Joe film,
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Another video game,
G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout, was released for
PlayStation 4,
Xbox One, and
Nintendo Switch in 2020. In 2025, Overwatch 2 also made a collaboration with them. ==See also==