Rise Of The Beasts: Why Does Every Other Transformers Movie Ignore The Maximals?
Contains spoilers for "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts"
The continuity of the live-action "Transformers" films has always been pretty sketchy, even within the five directed by Michael Bay. The series received somewhat of a soft reboot with 2018's "Bumblebee," which took place in 1987. While it ostensibly functioned as a soft reboot of the franchise, it also technically works as a prequel, showing what Bumblebee was up to before he met Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" supposedly takes place within this same timeline, with the previous cinematic installment being directed referenced when Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) recognizes how Bumblebee made friends with humans before.
However, connecting the two most recent "Transformers" movies with Michael Bay's can prove troublesome, especially now that the Maximals have been introduced. They've been on Earth for a long time, and after the climactic battle, it's assumed they're still around, probably continuing to chill in Peru. But if "Rise of the Beasts" leads into Bayverse, it forces the question of why didn't the Maximals help out during all of those potential world-ending events. The Maximals are even the ones who have to teach Optimus Prime to work alongside the humans, so they likely have just as much of an interest in protecting humanity. So why did they remain in hiding all that time?
Did the Autobots never think to call the Maximals when they were in trouble?
After the good guys succeed in destroying the Transwarp Key and preventing Unicron (Colman Domingo) from coming to Earth, everyone seemingly goes their separate ways. The Autobots are more accepting of humanity, while the human characters are changed for the better. It's unclear what exactly the Maximals get up to, but presumably, they go back to living in the Peruvian jungle with the indigenous tribe they befriended.
It's understandable they don't necessarily want to be bothered with every little thing, but the Michael Bay "Transformers" movies follow some significant threats to put the entire world in jeopardy. It's unclear why they wouldn't spring into action or why the Autobots wouldn't call on them again to help them out when dealing with Decepticons.
The "Beast Wars" cartoon has the primary antagonist of the series as the Predacons, which do pop up in "Rise of the Beasts." They're the robot alien scorpions the Terrorcons use to do their bidding. It's possible if the movie wanted to take an "Eternals" route, the Maximals only interfere when Predacons are at play. Maximals may not view Decepticons as their priority, so they let the Autobots handle them. But something else could be going on underneath the surface.
Does Rise of the Beasts establish a new continuity?
No one can seem to decide if "Bumblebee" and "Rise of the Beasts" are prequels or just straight-up reboots. Some things are seemingly canon, such as the fact Megatron hasn't been seen in the last two "Transformers" movies because the Michael Bay ones establish he's still frozen during those decades. "Bumblebee" director Travis Knight even told The Hollywood Reporter he couldn't use Megatron in his film due to that canon.
On the other hand, there's a lot that's seemingly being retconned in the new "Transformers" movies. For starters, 2017's "The Last Knight" established how Unicron was actually the Earth, with its horns protruding out of the planet's surface. However, "Rise of the Beasts" shows Unicron as a completely separate entity. The new movie also has a final scene where Noah (Anthony Ramos) is recruited by G.I. Joe, potentially setting up a crossover event between the two Hasbro franchises, which would only open up more questions as to how the movies fit in with Bay's.
It's possible the explanation for why the Maximals aren't in any other "Transformers" movie is that these new ones take place in a different timeline. If Paramount does want to keep everything under one roof, the Maximals' exclusion could be explained in a future installment. Perhaps they sacrifice their lives valiantly to protect Earth, or maybe they find a way off the planet. At the end of the day, these are movies about robot aliens that turn into cars, so maybe it's best not to think too hard about such things.