Why The New Transformers Movie Title Is So Revealing

The "Transformers" film franchise is based on a beloved toy line that started back in 1984. And like similar film franchises, whenever there's a new "Transformers" movie, one of the big questions is which parts of the source material might appear. With so much available lore, fans can never be sure if their favorite characters will show up on the big screen.

There have been six films in the "Transformers" franchise since Michael Bay's 2007 title, including five "Transformers" films and one spin-off, "Bumblebee." The first three films in the series, (aka the ones with Shia LaBeouf), all centered on the long-running battle war the Autobots and the Decepticons. The fourth film, "Transformers: Age of Extinction," brought Mark Wahlberg into the Autobot-Decepticon conflict, and also introduced the Dinobots, which first appeared in the "Transformers" franchise in 1985. In 2017, "Transformers: The Last Knight" threw the planet-sized supervillain Unicron into the mix, and in 2018, "Bumblebee" told the origin story of one of the most popular Autobots.

In May 2020, Paramount announced the release date for the next film in the "Transformers" franchise, which will premiere on June 4, 2022. Now, a title has officially been announced, and it says quite a lot regarding which characters from the "Transformers" canon will show up.

In a virtual press event attended by Looper, director Steven Caple Jr. revealed the title of the next "Transformers" movie: "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts." 

Caple Jr. confirmed that the word "Beasts" does indeed refer to "Beast Wars: Transformers," the beloved CGI TV series that aired from 1996 to 2001. Caple Jr. also confirmed that both Maximals and Predacons will be making an appearance.

If you're not up on your "Transformers" lore, this is a huge deal. While other movies in the franchise have featured scenes that took place in the past, "Rise of the Beasts" will presumably be set mostly in prehistoric times, just like "Beast Wars: Transformers" was. The Maximals are the precursor species to the Autobots. In Earth's prehistory they fought against the Predacons, who correspond with the Decepticons in present day. Some original "Transformers" characters also appeared on "Beast Wars: Transformers, too, but they were mostly dormant. 

Obviously, that scenario is much different from the other "Transformers" movies. And "Beast Wars: Transformers" was itself a major departure from the franchise, too. At first, "Beast Wars: Transformers" did divide "Transformers" fans, some of whom were skeptical about a show with mostly new characters (via DVD Talk). Eventually, though, "Beast Wars: Transformers" won most fans over with its strong writing and high production values. We'll only have to wait about a year to see if "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" can do the same.