Paramount Pictures have released the trailer for Transformers One, the animated film reimagining the origin of Orion Pax/Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth), D-16/Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry), Elita (Scarlett Johansson), and B-127/Bumblebee (Keegan-Michael Key).
Directed by Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) from a script by Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari (Ant-Man), the trailer indicates a largely lighthearted pre-war adventure for the future Autobot and Decepticon leaders. However, Cooley states in an interview with IGN that while the movie is kid-friendly, it will get darker as a result of Orion and D-16’s destiny, saying, “By the end of this film, there’s some serious stakes, and there’s the same amount of action and adventure that you come to expect from a Transformers film. It has that fun, light tone to it, but then it gets very real as well.”
The film appears to deviate from the backstory Hasbro has largely enforced since 2010 in two significant ways: firstly, instead of being a data clerk, Orion is a fellow laborer of D-16 and B (who is himself usually created after the war begins.) Secondly, transformation here is something the lower castes are unable to do, with the lead four only becoming capable of it after escaping to Cybertron’s surface, and being given transformation cogs by the wise sage Alpha Trion (Laurence Fishburne).
The second half shows the off-limits surface of Cybertron appears to be under attack from a new version of the tentacled Quintessons, the alien race that enslaved the planet in the original cartoon, who are shown “accepting the surrender” of Orion’s predecessor Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm). Future Decepticon lieutenants Starscream, Soundwave, and Shockwave are shown together in one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot during the end montage, as are robots resembling Blackarachnia and a Dinobot. It all concludes with B excitedly unlocking a battle mask resembling his original toy, and his later Goldbug form, as well as “knife hands.”
Transformers One will be released in theaters on September 20, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the original TV series, which premiered on September 17, 1984. It is only the second animated Transformers film intended for theaters, after the 1986 movie. While the original Marvel Comics series will turn 40 on May 8, it appears September will mark the height of Hasbro’s celebrations, with current “Transformers” comics publisher Skybound having announced that they will team up with the American Library Association to use Optimus Prime to promote Library Card Sign-Up Month that month, and a new compendium of the Marvel run for the fall. Poster and bookmark art featuring Optimus with his Cybertron Public Library card by Marz Jr. is available now in the ALA Store.
