Intro

The Transformers franchise has long been an integral part of movie theaters, and even the departure of some of its stars in the past could not change that. Following all the postponements of the last few years, the seventh part "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" is no longer far away so that we can slowly but surely turn our attention to the storyline. The producers have come up with something special for the new part. Indeed, the story deals with the early animated series from the 80s and 90s, called Beast Wars. In other words, alongside the Autobots and the Decepticons, this time there are also the Maximals and the evil Terrorcons. We have taken a look for you at what has changed in the cast, what the plot might be like and what obstacles there are to be overcome in the production. But enough talk, let's get started with our new Original!

Transformers: "Bumblebee"

Before we get to the new movie, let's briefly recap what happened in the last installment. The new feature will be a sequel to the 2018 movie "Bumblebee". If you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to be spoiled, you better make sure to skip to the next section now. Bumblebee - or B-127 - hits the middle of a military exercise during his escape from Cybertron to Earth. He is pursued by the Decepticon Blitzwing. Not only is Bumblebee's voice system damaged in the fight between the two, but senior officer Burns is also seriously injured. Bumblebee is found by Charlie Watson, who is given him as a gift transformed into a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. However, when she starts up the Autobot for the first time, it emits a signal that is picked up by the Decepticons. The Decepticons Shatter and Dropkick land on Earth, but are intercepted by the secret government agency Sector 7. They pose as peacekeepers who are searching for the criminal B-127. A battle breaks out between Bumblebee, the Decepticons and the military, with the latter recognizing all too late the real nature of the evil robots. In the end, however, Bumblebee wins with the help of Charlie. Eventually, the Autobots arrive on Earth and Optimus Prime expresses his gratitude to B-127 for his assistance. In Charlie's voice, he answers that his name is "Bumblebee".

Cast

Since this is a new prequel, the cast is also almost entirely new, unlike in the previous films. We will briefly summarize the changes in the various groups so far.

Human Cast

First, we have Anthony Ramos, who plays the young Noah. He is a battle-hardened veteran. His main role is to take care of his mother and his little brother, and he has to work a lot to provide them with a modest life on the verge of poverty. His strength lies in handling electronic devices, which he enjoys using to repair a variety of things. In this regard, his mother will also have a part in the film. We don't know her name yet, but she will be embodied by Lauren Vélez. Further, we have Dominique Fishback, who will be playing a young museum employee named Elena. Her job is far from ideal, as she is bullied by her boss. Both are likely to be the human supporters for the Autobots. More is not known on this side yet, but there will definitely be some more people added, surely from Sector 7 as well.

Transformers

As mentioned, there are some new species on the Transformers side in the seventh movie, so let's have a look at both the old and the new giants.

Autobots

Optimus Prime will of course once again act as the leader of the Autobots, and just like in the old parts, he will be dubbed by Peter Cullen. Naturally, he will again appear as the 1987 Freightliner FLA semi truck. Also remaining unchanged is Bumblebee as a Camaro. The other Autobots are Arcee, Mirage and Wheeljack. We have seen them before in Transformers 2 and 3, with Arcee preferring to transform into a motorcycle, Wheeljack into a Mercedes and Mirage into a Ferrari 458 Italia. However, in "Rise of the Beasts" the latter will get to transform into a blue Porsche 911. Also, Mirage is partly considered a sympathizer of the Decepticons, which is certainly due to his somewhat thuggish nature.

Maximals

For the first Maximal, we would like to introduce you to their leader: Optimus Primal. Unlike the Autobots or Decepticons, the Maximals transform into mechanical animals. Optimus Primal transforms into a giant gorilla, for example. He is voiced by "Sons of Anarchy" star Ron Perlman. Primal was the head of a research ship that went off course while pursuing a Predacon ship. By the way, inside the Predacon ship sat none other than Megatron. In terms of character, the steely gorilla is very down to earth, although he does love to talk big. Of course, this does not imply that he is not ready to use any means to cope with a dicey situation. He is always able of finding a solution, no matter how unusual it may be. In him, his friends have a loyal partner and he even treats his enemies with a fair amount of respect.

His right-hand man is Rhinox. He transforms himself into, you guessed it, a giant rhinoceros. He has a reputation for being calm and level-headed, and would certainly be equally capable of leading the Maximals if he were not so respectful of Optimus. He has also taken a Maximal under his wing, much like Optimus Prime took Bumblebee. The talk is of Airazor, who transforms into a peregrine falcon and thus forms the Maximals' air force. Last up, we have Cheetor, who can turn into a cheetah, making him the perfect hunter on land. But enough of the good spirits: let's move on to the bad guys!

Terrorcons

The leader of the Terrorcons is Scourge. He is a Decepticon who was assembled by Unicron from other dead Decepticons and he is going to be our new supervillain. As mentioned, in Part 7 he is the leader of the Terrorcons and incredibly powerful. Much like Optimus Prime, he transforms into a truck, that being a Peterbilt 359 logging semi truck.

His henchmen are Nightbird and Battletrap. In the cartoons, Nightbird is a ninja robot created by humans, which was then stolen and improved by the Decepticons. In the comics she is unable to transform, but they did change that for the movie. Her form of appearance is a Nissan Skyline GT-R R33. In addition, she will be the right-hand woman of Scourge. In contrast, Battletrap is more in charge when it comes to the rough stuff. You can also tell that from his appearance as a 1980s GMC TopKick C7000 Tow Truck.

Plot

Not a lot is known about the plot yet, and it will probably stay that way up until the first trailer. So first, let's take a look at the confirmed locations: New York City, or rather the borough of Brooklyn, has been chosen as the main setting. Of course, once you hear 1994 and Brooklyn, you can't help but think of the prevailing hip hop culture. Who knows, maybe there are even references to actual greats of that time like the Notorious B.I.G. or Mos Def. Moreover, they also head to the southern hemisphere, Peru to be exact. There, the legendary Inca town of Machu Picchu is likely to be in particular spotlight, and we really hope that the centuries-old wonder of the world won't suffer too much damage. We can safely assume that there will be a hunt for an important artifact in the old Transformers style, which is meant to resurrect Cybertron.

As mentioned earlier, the plot takes place seven years after Bumblebee, which means that the military will certainly not have forgotten about the existence of the machines yet. While the classic conflict is still between Autobots and Decepticons, the Maximals and Terrorcons species will probably be dragged into this war as well - after all, the Maximals are the descendants of the Autobots while the Terrorcons are the descendants of the Decepticons. Nevertheless, the Maximals do not have much in common with their predecessors. They strive for a tranquil life in harmony and are actually no longer concerned with the everlasting civil war. The Terrorcons, on the other hand, are just as dangerous and evil as their predecessors. Besides, they are made of dark energon and, at least in the "First Generation" cartoons, they are also able to absorb energon from other Transformers in order to become even stronger.

Another interesting question will be whether Megatron will be making a comeback. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura stated in an interview that he felt the need for a new villain, which is why Scourge was brought in. Also, we keep reading the name of the Predacons, likewise a race of Transformers, but one that primarily transforms into prehistoric life forms. Whether there will be a connection to them in Machu Picchu, is something we will learn by the release of the movie at the latest.

Production

Okay, so let's move on to our last topic: the production. Sitting in the director's chair is no longer Michael Bay, but Steven Caple Jr. The 34-year-old has already enjoyed some success with "Creed II" and will now put his skills to the test with the new "Transformers". Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, who has been involved in the franchise since the beginning, will provide assistance. Joining him is former director Michael Bay. Filming has been wrapped up since October 21, 2021. Therefore, we expect the current release date of June 9, 2023 to remain unchanged. In the meantime, another Transformers movie has been announced for 2024, though this time it will be computer-animated instead of being a live-action film. 

Outro

And that was all the latest information about "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts". We hope we were able to help you pass the time until a first teaser trailer will hopefully be released soon. All that remains now is the question of what you are most looking forward to in the new film. We are, for instance, extremely excited about the Terrorcons and the Maximals. Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and if you liked this video, be sure to give it a thumbs up. See you next time!