Future addtions to the Energon Universe
Even though the Energon Universe is still relatively new, there's still room for expansion by adding other Hasbro IPs to the mix.
Now, at present, Skybound is taking their time; Megatron only got his cannon back a few issues ago, and it took over a year for G.I. Joe to officially come together, let alone start fighting Cobra. And that's before all of the mysteries that still have yet to be answered over in Void Rivals.
Now, I think that the slow burn approach is a good idea. It keeps the setting focused, and builds the foundation for the entire shared universe. Skybound isn't doing what IDW did with Revolution, which was to smash everything together all in the same event, with only a mini-series (Action Man) or a handful of issues from your ongoing (Micronauts & Rom) if you were lucky; oh, and they take two already established, mutually exclusive seres (Transformers and G.I. Joe) and try to force them into the same timeline. No, they are taking their time. For most of the EU so far, Kirkman has gone on record saying that there would be sticking with just Transformers, Void Rivals, and G.I. Joe, and have no more than four series at any one time.
Now, that being said, we've already started to see them lay the groundwork for the introduction of additional Hasbro IPs.
First off, in Void Rivals #17, Springer talks about the years he spent living in the Sacred Ring's northern wastelands to Hot Rod, and by comparison, the short time on Agorria waiting around is a "Prysmosian Wedding."
Now, this could be nothing, but I think this line might be a hint that the Visonaries exist in the Energon Universe, and it's only a matte rof time until they make their appearance.
Here's hoping that, if I'm right, they get a better showing than in IDW, where they didn't exactly make a good first impression on readers; killing fan-favorite Kup and having some of the traditionally heroic Spectral Knights join the villainous Darkling Lords in trying to genocide Cybertron will do that.
What's less in doubt is that, in the G.I. Joe segment of the Energon Universe Special 2025, this guy showed up.
Matt Trakker, codename Spectrum, leader of the MASK Team, from the MASK (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) franchise (which to me always seemed like what would happen if you mixed together Transformers and G.I. Joe).
Of course, there doesn't seem to be a MASK Team yet; just Matt, who's living by himself, is working on something secret, and is seemingly familiar with Cybertronians, given his understated reaction to seeing Hound, and ability to fix him quickly.
His presence means that it's only a matter of time until the rest of the team, and their adversaries, VENOM (Vicions Evil Network of Mayhem) show up. MASK is also a logical addition to the Energon Universe, given the Hasbro tieing it into G.I. Joe over the years, hence why we the readers were introduced to them via Clutch. Also, it would be really easy to tie-in the verse's overall focus on the actual substance of Energon by having it be the energy source for their transforming vehicles and the various mask powers.
Of course, it could be a while; like I said, Skybound is fond of the slow burn.
I'm not going to speculate on any further additions beyond these two; Rom and Micronauts are currently back at Marvel (or at least the right to do reprints), and as for Jem, God (and Hasbro) only knows who has her, thoguh she does get a mention every now and then in the various letters to the editor pages at the back of every EU issue, which is more than I can say for poor Action Man.
So, previews for Void RIvals #32 and #33 are out, and the covers they're showing have interesting implications.
Perhaps I spoke too soon about the possibility of Rom ever making an appearance. Because the blacked out figure on all of those covers looks blocky enough to be a Spaceknight to me (especially the feet). Plus, the strange mutations bring to mind the shapeshifting Dire Wraiths.
TLDR: The Void Rivals may be facing off against a wraith infected Space Knight.
