Optimus Prime and Megatron's origins are set to be revealed in a new animated Transformers movie due out next year. Based on the beloved Hasbro toy line, Transformers has been a staple of the entertainment landscape for decades, both in live-action and in animation. While Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is set to serve as a soft reboot of the live-action movies, the franchise is also set to make a big splash in the world of animation with Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley at the helm.
Now, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura reveals to Collider that the untitled animated Transformers movie coming out in 2024, a year after Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' release date, will explore the origins of the franchise's two most recognizable characters: Autobot leader Optimus Prime and Decepticon lord Megatron. The producer also confirms rumors that Cybertron will play a major role in the movie. Check out Bonaventura's full comment below:
"I could tell you really important parts of this story, which is more than a tease. This is something we were trying to do; we debated a lot about it in live action, and it just was financially impossible to do, which is, the origin story of young Megatron and young Optimus.
If you know the origin, they started as friends, and over time things devolved for them and they ended up on two sides. So we're telling the young Optimus and the young Megatron story. We really are telling the origin story of all Transformers, both what they were at the beginning of it, to how they grow, to how they grow apart.
"We’re hoping that there is enough emotional construct to that, that would lead to a trilogy of it because, personally, I think there's a natural trilogy. I'm not always looking to do multiple movies, but there's a natural trilogy around their relationship. So, you're going to see Cybertron in a way you've never seen it, that no one's ever seen it before. Because we're doing an animation, we're allowed to really go all out. If you tried to make this live-action, it would probably be a billion-dollar movie or something."
Optimus Prime & Megatron's Origin Story Is Perfect For Animation
While later stories would take place on Earth, much of the early lives of Optimus Prime and Megatron take place on Cybertron, the Transformers' home planet. It would undoubtedly be exciting for the two characters' origins to be fleshed out in live-action, but animation might actually be the best option. In addition to the excessive budget required to make a feature-length live-action movie set on Cybertron, animation allows for a visual style that just isn't possible in any other medium.
As demonstrated with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, animation doesn't need to adhere to more conventional visual standards and can really push the envelope. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish adopted this same approach, delivering some surprisingly impressive visuals to compliment its story. The untitled animated Transformers movie could potentially take this same approach, using an animation style and visual language never seen in the franchise before.
A fresh animation style combined with the story of two iconic characters' degrading friendship is sure to make for an interesting addition to the plethora of Transformers content out there. What's more, making the movie animated means Transformers franchise fatigue might be less likely to set in. There have now been six live-action Transformers movies with a seventh on the way, and telling new stories across different mediums is the best way to ensure the franchise keeps feeling fresh for years to come.
Source: Collider
Key Release Dates
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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Release Date:2023-06-09
