How The Canceled Second Season Of G.I. Joe: Renegades Gave The G.I. Joe Movie Its Cliffhanger Ending

"G.I. Joe" has traditionally been the story of the titular group, the U.S. Army's elite counter-terrorism task force, battling Cobra, a group of terrorist supervillains seeking domination world. "Renegades" flipped that on its head. The Joes are fugitives while Cobra is a legitimate (but far) biotech company.

In the pilot of "Renegades", Lieutenant Shana O'Hara/Scarlett recruits her old friend Snake Eyes and four soldiers (Duke, Roadblock, Tunnel Rat and Ripcord) to investigate Cobra. They discover and destroy the manufacture of biological weapons but are accused by Cobra of having bombed a "pharmaceutical factory". The Joes must flee, seeking to prove their innocence and expose Cobra's wrongdoing. Along the way, they pique the interest of Cobra's commander; instead of a hard-core supervillain like in the 80s, this time he wears the friendly, public (and totally fake) face of "Adam DeCobray".

Gilroy explained that this reinvention was tied to the political climate of the 2010s:

"Worldwide, the US military hasn't been looked upon very positively. We can't just let these guys be excited, the US military shooting at everything because of what's happened. went to the Middle East."

Indeed, the military ended up being antagonists for most "Renegades", since they hunted fugitive Joes as much as Cobra. Reinvention wasn't entirely about politics. Gilroy continued, "We also thought, well, we could probably tell more character-driven character stories if we focus on a small group of Joes, and we have them on the run." Indeed, although "Renegades" had a small regular cast, nearly every episode featured guest appearances by classic Joe characters.