Do we really need the universe of our toys to be inter-connected now as well? Those who stuck around during the end credits of this weekend's latest blockbuster Transformers: Rise of the Beasts were — spoiler alert —  treated to the first glimpse of a new Hasbro Cinematic Universe when the film's lead Noah Diaz is offered a job working for a secret government organization which turns out to be… G.I. Joe.

Is your mind blown yet?

If not, you might be suffering from a nascent medical condition called “cinematic universe fatigue” (and if that starts trending, you heard it here first). The tease of a Transformers character joining forces with the G.I. Joe regime could just be a crossover, but it's much more likely a sign of grander ambitions for the conglomerate toy company.

According to Screen Rant, Paramount announced plans for a Hasbro Cinematic Universe eight years ago and is just unveiling it now with the G.I. Joe tease in its Transformers franchise. Transformers is by far the most successful film series based on a Hasbro toy, and Paramount has understandably high hopes that G.I. Joe will be the next big Hasbro-toy-turned-blockbuster-movie.

Paramount and Hasbro attempted to jump-start the G.I. Joe franchise with 2021's Snake Eyes, an origin story about that central G.I. Joe character. However, that film fell flat at the box office, suffering from poor reviews and a mid-pandemic release.

Undeterred, Paramount is clearly now trying again to expand its toy-inspired repertoire by connecting G.I. Joe to its most proven franchise in that world, Transformers. The hope seems to be that, since audiences love their inter-connected universes, let's mash up something proven with something less proven and hope it sticks better than the stand-alone attempt.

But it also begs the question: do we really crave this much connectedness as movie goers? Sure, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a huge success. Particularly in Phase One (aka the first set of Marvel films to all take place in the same movie world and chronology), the way each Marvel blockbuster built on the last and weaved in new ties to its other superheroes was truly novel, comic-book like and made the franchise one long must-see saga.

But as that flagship cinematic universe has expanded int0 its later stages of evolution, it's getting increasingly exhausting to remember every interrelated factoid from film to film.

And even Marvel's Cinematic Universe has its own offshoot sub-universes. As Spider-Man keeps jumping across the spider-verse in animated and live-action form, it's yet more wrinkles of interdependence to wrap our heads around.

Marvel's live action Spider-Man: No Way Home could be seen as a clever wink to the fact of just how often these superhero franchises swap their lead character for a new, younger actor and reboot themselves (with Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland all starring as different universe Spider-Man characters in that film). The strategy also appears to have been copied by the D.C. Cinematic Universe in the upcoming The Flash film, with Michael Keaton (the original Bat-Man from Tim Burton's 1989 eponymous film) and Ben Affleck both reprising their roles and re-donning the black suit and cape.

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But on another level this acknowledging of multiple characters playing the same role over the franchise is also a lame attempt to cover one's behind for past failures as if to say, “You see? This was all part of one big cinematic master plan and we're acknowledging that by lumping them all together.”

Now Hasbro is asking our already overworked synapses to forge yet more new neural connections by preparing us for a new Hasbro cinematic universe where all our old toys are connected as well. Will My Little Pony show up in the Transformers-G.I. Joe crossover teased in Rise of the Beasts? Or will characters from Dungeons & Dragons cross paths with those from Battleship, on their way to a Jem and the Holograms concert?

Also, why should Hasbro have all the fun? With Mattel set for their major release of the Barbie movie later this summer, and a Hot Wheels film next up on the docket, can we expect a cinematic universe from them as well?

And with toy companies eager to form more cinematic universes, what's to stop other major manufacturing corporations from entering the fray as well? Does the new Disney+ film (based on an evidently not-so-true story) Flamin' Hot tease a cinematic universe shared with other Frito-Lay snacks? Does Amazon Prime's Air tease upcoming biopics about Nike's other famous shoe lines? Will the Blackberry movie create a Smartphone Cinematic Universe?

The possibilities are endless, and overwhelming. Please, movie studios, save us from cinematic universe fatigue. Or at the very least remember, forging connections between your major properties alone does not a masterpiece make.