Transformers One is a 2024 animated science fiction action film based on the Transformers toy line. It is directed by Josh Cooley (Inside Out, Toy Story 4) and stars the voices of Chris Hemsworth as Orion Pax/Optimus Prime, Brian Tyree Henry as D-16/Megatron, Scarlett Johansson as Elita-1, Keegan-Michael Key as B-127/Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion. It marks the first theatrical animated film in the Transformers franchise since 1986's The Transformers: The Movie and the eighth installment of the long-running Transformers Film Series.
Set on the high-tech alien world of Cybertron, the film tells the origin story of Orion Pax and D-16 - the young beings who would become Optimus Prime and Megatron - as they set out on an adventure with their allies to the planet’s surface and discover the incredible ability to transform. The film will be released on September 20, 2024.
Previews: Trailer
Transformers One contains examples of the following:
- Adaptational Comic Relief: The first trailer gives Bumblebee this treatment, as the character is played as being much more klutzy with his abilities upon receiving his upgrades, a good chunk of his dialogue seen in the trailer is Played for Laughs, and the character is voiced by noted comedian Keegan-Michael Key.
- Adaptational Origin Connection: The trailer presents both B-127/Bumblebee and D-16/Megatron as receiving their upgrades from Alpha Trion. That said, this isn't entirely new for Megatron, as the future Decepticon leader was Alpha Trion's student in the Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy, but it is the first time for Bumblebee to have an explicit connection to him.
- Age Lift: Of a sort; B-127, the future Bumblebee, is presented as a contemporary of Orion Pax and D-16 in the trailer, thus bucking the longstanding trend of adaptations and newer continuities of having Bumblebee be one of the younger characters to play into his Kid-Appeal Character status.
- Arm Cannon: The trailer shows Megatron showing off his iconic fusion canon when he's upgraded with a transformation cog.
- Atrocious Alias: In the trailer, B-127 (before he gains the name Bumblebee) introduces himself and is working on some nicknames, but tries to sell Orion and D-16 on the name "Badassatron". D-16 responds by rather bluntly (but not meanly) saying they'll just stick to calling him "B", as a Call-Forward to his future name of "Bumblebee".
- Blatant Lies: In the trailer, B-127 cuts down a door and starts trashing the room on the other side with his newfound Blade Below the Shoulder until Orion stops him and points out these aren't the bad guys. Elita-1 asks why he cut the door down, to which he claims it was already like that. Two bots unconvincingly back up his claim as they keep their distance.
- Call-Forward: The trailer shows D-16 clearing moss off of the remains of a huge, deceased Cybertronian whose battle mask is identical to the Decepticon insignia.
- There are brief shots of Orion and D-16 in the future when they become Optimus Prime and Megatron.
- Composite Character: As presented from the details seen in the trailer:
- Orion Pax has a more youthful appearance than his counterpart from the original cartoon, but his backstory of having once been close friends with Megatron before the war broke out is borrowed from the first IDW run and the Aligned Continuity, albeit that the trailer is presenting them as much closer friends like in Transformers (2019). Voice-wise, Chris Hemsworth inflects a younger take of Prime's original actor, Peter Cullen, whom he consulted with on the role. After his upgrade, Prime's design in the trailer better matches his G-1 cartoon and Transformers: Cyberverse appearance.
- Megatron's initial appearance, particularly the black helmet, brings to mind his original comic appearance, with his D-16 identity being from Aligned, and his closer friendship with Optimus Prime before their falling out falling along the lines of IDW's second run. His upgrade in the trailer puts him closer to his original cartoon design.
- Bumblebee has his Knightverse designation of B-127 and his battle mask, his G-1 cartoon's proportions mixed with the stockier muscle car design of the Bayverse version, and the trailer presents him with the quippier attitude of the version seen in Transformers: Animated, plus arm blades that resemble that incarnation’s “stinger” blasters.
- Foregone Conclusion: It's pretty much obvious that Orion and D-16 will end up bitter rivals on either side of a galaxy-spanning war, with Elita as Orion's spark mate and B-127 as one of his closest allies.
- How Do I Shot Web?: The trailer shows Orion Pax and company first gaining the ability to transform into vehicles… and struggling with it. Pax gets his head stuck in his body and B-127 doesn't get his wheels until he’s already crashed.
- Human-Focused Adaptation: Inverted. Due to being a Prequel set before the traditional story with the factions warring on Earth, the trailer has no human characters whatsoever and shows the movie set entirely on Cybertron.
- Iconic Attribute Adoption Moment: In the first trailer, the four Transformers that are the focus of the film initially don't bear that strong a resemblance to their typical designs. When Alpha Trion grants them their transformation cogs, their appearances change to more closely match, such as Orion Pax gaining Optimus' antennae on his head and a more prominent shield emblem, exhaust pipes on his shoulders, and a new chestplate that evokes the imagery of his truck cab windows.
- If We Survive This: D-16 says this to Orion in the trailer as they're flying jetpacks along a busy highway.D-16: If we survive this, I'm gonna kill you!
Orion Pax: I accept those terms! - Mechanical Animals: In the trailer, the surface is shown to have deer-like robots.
- Mechanical Lifeform: The Cybertronians themselves and the Mechanical Animals we see in the trailer.
- Mood Whiplash: The trailer shows Orion's group risk their lives to reach the surface. Once there they ride on top of a train and admire the beauty of the Cybertronian landscape... until a large laser blast strikes one of the robot deer. B-127 then runs off in a panic.
- Mythology Gag: As mandatory as ever in a modern Transformers project. From the trailer:
- Elements such as Alpha Trion, Orion Pax, and Elita-1, as well as the origins of the Cybertronians as slave labor are straight out of Generation One.
- D-16 is a long-standing nod to the original Megatron toy, which had this as its product number when it was sold in Japan.
- B-127 was already used previously in Bumblebee.
- D-16's helmet is dome-shaped and black, a reference to a prototype character model for the original G1 Megatron.
- Orion Pax's proportions lean closer to his original G1 character model, but his armor, and especially his head design, is based more on the various designs used in IDW's original Transformers titles.
- The surface of Cybertron is covered in organic plant life, which is straight out of Beast Machines canon.
- Alpha Trion turns into a lion like his successor, Alpha Trizer, with a unicorn-like horn that specifically calls back to his Titans Return figure.
- Our heroes are up against a Mecha-Mook army that resembles the flight-type Vehicons from Transformers: Prime.
- There are brief shots of robots resembling Airachnid, Starscream, and a G1 Sharkticon.
- Like many G1-inspired versions, B-127's battle mask is derived from the original head design for the 1984 Bumblebee toy, which famously had a mouthplate and visor instead of his more famous two eyes, mouth, and nose face. His arm blades, however, are based on his counterpart in the War for Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron duology.
- Elita-1's alternate mode is that of a motorcycle, much like her briefly seen live-action film counterpart.
- The enemies seen later on are tentacled beings, which heavily resemble the Quintessons.
- The transformation cogs given to Orion, Elita, D-16, and B-127 are designed to resemble Metroplex's from the original cartoon's third season.
- Orion says in the trailer G1’s iconic More than meets the eye.
- The head of the old robot seen in the trailer looks an awful lot like Tarn, head of the Decepticon Justice Division.
- Sentinel Prime is blue and gold with a prominent chin, evoking his Animated design.
- Origins Episode: The trailer indicates that this film is set before Optimus and Megatron took on their famous monikers and went from the best of brothers to the worst of enemies and how they discovered how to transform. It also acts as this for Elita-1 and B (Bumblebee), as they gain their abilities alongside them.
- Precision F-Strike: B-127 tries to get Orion and D-16, to call him “Badassatron”.
- Repurposed Pop Song: The trailer is set to "Start Me Up" by The Rolling Stones.
- Scenery Porn: The pre-war Cybertron seen in the trailer is pure eye candy, with crystal landscapes, lush jungles, and a synth-wave sunrise.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: B-127 starts running away from something while the rest of the team stares at it before joining B in the run. What it is is still unknown.
- Transformation Sequence: But of course there would be. The trailer shows that when Alpha Trion upgrades Orion, D-16, B-127, and Elita-1, their bodies upgrade themselves to accommodate their new T-cogs and abilities.
- Underground City: The team mentions that they finally see the surface, implying that the cities of Cybertron are underground.
- Where It All Began: The film will explore how Optimus Prime and Megatron’s past on Cybertron, as shown in the trailer.
