Where Is Megatron During Rise Of The Beasts (And Why His Absence Makes Sense)

Contains spoilers for "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts"

The future of the live-action "Transformers" franchise is seemingly set in the past. Building off what came in 2018's "Bumblebee," which took place in the 1980s, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" shows audiences what the Autobots were up to in 1994. In addition to Sonic the Hedgehog references and plenty of early '90s hip-hop, the film sees the Autobots team up with both humans and Maximals to take on a new threat, namely Scourge (Peter Dinklage) working on behalf of Unicron (Colman Domingo) to bring the planet-eater to Earth. 

Unicron, Scourge, and the other Terrorcons make for perfectly terrifying villains, but it's only natural for fans to wonder where Megatron (Hugo Weaving) is, seeing how he's one of the most powerful Transformers. He's been an antagonistic staple of the "Transformers" franchise from the very beginning, being the primary threat within Michael Bay's "Transformers" films. He's basically the Joker to Optimus Prime's Batman, so it makes sense he gets the lion's share of attention in most adaptations. However, he's conspicuously absent during the events of "Rise of the Beasts," but according to "Transformers" continuity, his absence makes complete sense. 

The "Transformers" timeline was pretty tricky to nail down even when Michael Bay was at the helm of directing these movies. "Bumblebee" and "Rise of the Beasts" take place in the past, but for the moment, they're still technically within the same continuity as those films. That means Megatron can't really factor into the equation until these spin-offs hit 2007 due to a significant plot point in the first "Transformers" movie.

In the 2007 film, it's revealed that Megatron has been on Earth for a long time, but he landed in the Arctic Circle, freezing him for years. He was discovered in 1897 and dug out in the 1930s by the U.S. government, where he's been stored in the Hoover Dam ever since. It's even stated that scientists used parts found in Megatron to develop all of the technology we enjoy today. 

It's not until 2007 that other Decepticons are able to locate him through the internet. They break into the Hoover Dam and unthaw him, unleashing a reign of terror that would continue throughout 2017's "The Last Knight." With the two most recent "Transformers" movies taking place before these events, the reason Megatron can't be a menace is that he's still frozen in ice, so they have to look toward other antagonists within the franchise to cause the Autobots problems. To bring Megatron out before 2007 would make for a major retcon (or they would have to revert to a status quo where they somehow get him back frozen by the movie's end). Granted, it might be nice to see some other Transformers baddies get a chance to shine.

Megatron canonically being frozen in ice prior to 2007 has already caused some problems for the franchise. 2018's "Bumblebee" takes place in 1987, so Megatron also couldn't factor into much of that plot. Instead, other Decepticons, namely Shatter (Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (Justin Theroux), have to come to Earth to take down Bumblebee, but Megatron's absence wasn't for lack of trying. 

The movie opens with an epic battle sequence on Cybertron that includes many of the classic designs of the likes of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and Starscream. "Bumblebee" director Travis Knight initially thought Megatron could factor into this fight somehow since it takes place well before 1987, telling The Hollywood Reporter, "I had this whole thing boarded where we see Megatron and he comes in like Sauron, just blowing s*** up and laying waste to everything." The only problem was that according to the lore set forth by Michael Bay's "Transformers" movies, Megatron would've already been frozen on Earth when this particular battle took place. 

He went on to say, "So even though I really wanted to see G1 Megatron on the battlefield at the fall [of] Cybertron, I couldn't do it." It's a bit of a shame Megatron likely won't appear in a live-action "Transformers" movie until the story catches up to the 21st century. But given the ending to "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts," there are plenty of interesting directions for these prequels to take.