Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts' Villains And Warring Factions Explained

While even casual fans of the "Transformers" film franchise will be familiar with the ongoing war between the Autobots and Decepticons, the latest installment in the franchise, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts," introduces audiences to two new warring factions of shapeshifting mechanical aliens –- the Maximals and the Terrorcons, who owe their allegiances to Optimus Primal (Ron Pearlman) and Unicron (Colman Domingo), respectively.

Early on in the "Rise of the Beasts," it's revealed that the Maximals were banished from their "homeworld" after the planet was devoured by Unicron and his Terrorocons and that the Maximals escaped to a prehistoric Earth where they were led by Optimus Primal. There they take on Transformations related to different animals on Earth, with Ariazor (Michelle Yeoh) becoming a peregrine falcon, Rhinox (Dave Sobolov) becoming a rhinoceros, and Optimus Primal becoming a gorilla.

Fans familiar with the lore of the "Transformers" franchise will know that the Maximals are actually a time-traveling race of Transformers that were descended from the Autobots, and whose ultimate goal is to defeat the dark god Unicron. As such, the Maximals in "Rise of the Beasts" decide to team up with the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) –- forming one half of the two warring factions at the center of this movie.

The second faction in "Rise of the Beasts" is the Transformer alliance that serves under Unicron, made up of the aforementioned Terrorcons (malevolent Transformers who serve Unicron's every whim), the time-traveling Predacons (who like the Maximals can transform themselves into animals, and in "Transformers" lore, are the descendants of Decepticons), and their leader, Scourge (Peter Dinklage), referred to as the "Herald of Unicron." Prominent members of this alliance include the Terrorcons Battletrap (David Sobolov), Transit (John DiMaggio), and Nightbird (Michaela Jaé Rodriguez). Notable Predacons from this film include the army of Scorponok that Unicron controls — each of whom has the ability to transform into a massive scorpion.

Fans of the "Transformers" franchise will know that, within the greater "Transformers" lore, Unicron is one of the most powerful villains in the entire universe — a multiversal god of chaos who consumes not just planets but entire realities. Being a Transformer as well, he also has the ability to shift out of his planetary form and into a colossal robot that rivals Earth in size. Although Unicron likely doesn't utilize the full extent of his power in "Rise of the Beasts" (as doing so would spell utter disaster for our universe, and we already know this film is a prequel to the 2007 "Transformers") it's safe to say that Unicron and his followers are the most powerful threat we've ever seen in the "Transformers" film franchise.

Notably absent from "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" is the Decepticon team led by Megatron (Hugo Weaving), who serves as the primary antagonist for the rest of the "Transformers" film franchise.

Although some fans will certainly be a bit disappointed to learn that the iconic Megatron will not be making an appearance in this film, it's pretty easy to see why. Fans who remember 2007's "Transformers” will know that Megatron was canonically frozen in the Arctic Circle after attempting to track down the AllSpark on Earth, and remained frozen up until his release in 2007. This means that Megatron was not present for the events of "Rise of the Beasts," which takes place in 1994. On top of that, the other Decepticons have yet to arrive on the planet in search of their leader, though one of the Decepticons who arrives on Earth in "Transformers" shares the name "Scorponok" with the Predacons that we see in the trailer for "Rise of the Beasts."

It's also worth clarifying that, although the Decepticons might be the ancestors of Unicron's Predacons in "Transformers" lore, the forces of Unicron have a much larger and much more devastating motivation than Megatron and his ilk –- and, as of right now, they remain a different faction from the live-action Decepticons. While Unicron and his followers might be the most terrifying threat we've seen in the "Transformers" film franchise, we'll still have to wait and see how they stack up to the Decepticons once "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" hits theaters on June 8, 2023.