The Big Problem In Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts That Will Give Eternals Haters Deja Vu

Contains spoilers for "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts"

"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" brings the long-awaited live-action debut of the Maximals. The Autobots are still at the center of the action, but the Maximals, particularly Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman), have been part of the lore for decades now, and they're finally getting their day in the sun in front of general audiences. And while it may be thrilling to finally see Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and Optimus Primal fight side by side in a live-action setting, it may just raise more questions than it answers.

The film shows how the Maximals fled to Earth to prevent Unicron (Colman Domingo) and Scourge (Peter Dinklage) from getting the Transwarp Key, allowing whoever possesses it to travel anywhere in the universe. Based on the artifacts containing the pieces of the Key, the Maximals have been on Earth for thousands of years, primarily staying in the shadows until the Autobots need their help to prevent Scourge from summoning Unicron. The teams fight as allies in the climactic battle, and then the Maximals just sort of go away at the end. 

Only three Maximals are left by the finale, with Airazor (Michelle Yeoh) having died earlier. But it does beg the question of why the Autobots didn't recruit them for any battles during any of the Michael Bay "Transformers" movies. It calls to mind another powerful team that stayed out of the way when they probably should've intervened.

When Marvel's "Eternals" came out in 2021, many people had a similar question about where they've been this whole time. They're these super powerful entities that have inspired myths and legends, but they conveniently sat on the sidelines when Thanos (Josh Brolin) was plotting to wipe out half of all life (not to mention all of the other potential world-ending threats the Avengers had to deal with). The natural answer is that they hadn't had their own film yet up until that point, but it did raise a possible plot hole. 

"Eternals" is actually aware of this discrepancy, and the explanation offered is that the Eternals were ordered not to meddle with humanity's affairs unless Deviants were involved. It's later revealed that the Eternals were meant to step back so that humanity could evolve to a massive population, allowing the Celestial Tiamut to rise from the planet. Either way, there are still lingering questions about how no one decided to get involved throughout all of this. 

"Rise of the Beasts" works a bit backward from this. The newest "Transformers" movie takes place in 1994, while the Michael Bay movies started in 2007. It's understandable if the Autobots weren't aware of their presence prior to 1994, but how come there are five whole movies with Decepticons trying to take over the planet, and the Maximals don't do anything? They're still on friendly terms with the Autobots at the end of "Rise of the Beasts," so one would assume Optimus Prime could get in touch with them if they needed assistance. But that didn't happen, so were they just chilling in Peru this whole time?

Of course, "Rise of the Beasts" doesn't have an explanation for why the Maximals aren't present in the Michael Bay movies. They haven't happened yet, so perhaps it's too early to call their exclusion a plot hole. The newest "Transformers" flick ends with Unicron still out there in the universe while Noah (Anthony Ramos) gets recruited by G.I. Joe. And there's a full 13 years between "Rise of the Beasts" and the events of 2007's "Transformers." If a sequel happens, it'd likely take place in the '90s or early 2000s, so it's possible more reasoning will emerge for why the Maximals weren't around for all that. 

A future installment could see the Autobots team up with the Maximals yet again, but they may not be so lucky this time around. It would make for a particularly poignant moment if Optimus Primal had to sacrifice his life to save the world somehow, and considering how Rhinox (David Sobolov) and Cheetor (Tongayi Chirisa) barely had anything to say or do in "Rise of the Beasts," they could easily get killed without much fanfare. 

At this point, heroic sacrifices may be the only way to maintain continuity. However, live-action "Transformers" lore was already pretty squirrely within just the Michael Bay movies. Even if the prequels never address it, fans of the franchise likely won't mind too much.