Summary
Transformers Oneseems to raise a middle finger toMichael Bay’s movies of the franchise in one clever way. Scheduled to be released on July 26, 2025,Transformers Oneis an exciting addition to the overarching toy movie franchise. What makes it significantly different from all the otherTransformersfilms, especially the ones helmed by Michael Bay, is that it goes back in time and walks through the origin stories of Optimus Prime and Megatron instead of featuring an all-out battle between the two Cybertronians.
AsTransformers One’s trailerreveals, its younger versions of Optimus Prime and Megatron will also not be able to transform for a significant chunk of the film. UnlikeMichael Bay’sTransformersmovies,Transformers Oneis also embracing the animation medium for storytelling instead of featuring another live-action take on the original cartoons. While only time will tell whetherTransformers Onewill be as commercially successful as Michael Bay’s films, it is hard not to appreciate how it is defying several conventions set by the first few live-action movies.
Every Autobot & Decepticon Who Appears In Transformers One
Ahead of its release date later this year, Transformers One confirms the return of familiar Autobots and Decepticons from the franchise.
Unlike Bay’s Movies, Transformers One Does Not Take Optimus Prime Too Seriously
Orion Pax Is The Opposite Of How Michael Bay’s Transformers Portrayed Optimus Prime
Almost throughoutTransformers One’s trailer, Orion Pax (Young Optimus) and D-16 (Young Megatron) areeasygoing allies who do not miss the opportunity to engage in playful banter and crack jokes. This contrasts how theMichael Bay moviesportray the two characters. While Optimus Prime is a stoic and calloused Autobot leader in live-action films, Megatron is a ruthless Decepticon who wishes to eradicate all Autobots from the face of the universe. In one scene,Transformers Onealso literally and metaphorically raises a middle finger to Michael Bay’sTransformersmovies.
The kind of slapstick, juvenile humor that Orion Pax brings to the table in this scene could have never been a part of the Michael Bay films because of how seriously they took Optimus Prime.
When Darkwing confronts Orion Pax and looks down on him and D-16 for not having the ability to transform, Pax hilariously makes transformation noises while raising his middle finger. The kind of slapstick, juvenile humor that Orion Pax brings to the table in this scene could have never been a part of the Michael Bay films because of how seriously they took Optimus Prime. While Orion Pax, too, will eventually grow up and become the stoic Autobot leader from the Bay films,Transformers One’s portrayal of his carefree youth feels refreshing.
Transformers One Is Still Interesting Without Human Characters
Transformers One Understands What Made The Original Cartoons Appealing
Transformers Onealso goes against many of its live-action predecessors by not featuring any human characters. As its trailer and story confirm, it unfolds entirely on Cybertron, focusing solely on the planet’s resident species. While the human stories in the live-actionTransformersmovies are interesting, the franchise was never supposed to center on humans. Like the originalTransformerscartoons and comic books, it was supposed to humanize theTransformerscharacters.
2018’sBumblebeeis perhaps the only live-action film in the franchise that makes its central Autobot character the main hero instead of merely using him as a narrative device to drive its action. However, unlikeBumblebee,Transformers Oneis taking a no-holds-barred approach towards fully exploring the rich lore of the Cybertronians and their planetwithout bringing any human characters into the picture. If all works out well forTransformers One, and it earns good numbers at the global box office, it could prove that not allTransformersmovies have to followMichael Bay’s recipe to succeed.
Transformers One
Cast
Transformers One is an animated action-adventure movie that marks the first animated feature-length film for the series in decades. The film will be a prequel to the franchise, and will tell the story of Optimus Prime and Megatron in their early years, how they met, and a closer look at the war on their home planet, Cybertron.
