The new trailer for Bumblebee has unleashed a lot more Transformers than fans previously expected to see. The upcoming film directed by Travis Knight places the beloved yellow Autobot in a 1987 California beach town, where he befriends an 18-year-old woman named Charlie Watson (Academy Award-nominee Hailee Steinfeld). Designed as a more character-driven piece that addresses the problems with the Transformers movies directed by Michael Bay, Bumblebee was also believed to feature far fewer Transformers. To the delight of many fans, it turns out this isn't really the case!
It was suspected that Bumblebee could actually become a soft reboot of the entire Transformers movie franchise. The new trailer adds fuel to that fire by spotlighting a large number of Transformers in what could be flashback scenes to their conflict on Cybertron. What's more, the Transformers glimpsed are all of the beloved Generation-1 designs, which is bound to please fans who never cozied up to the way the Bayformers looked. However, this also goes against how the robots looked in Bay's films during the numerous times the Transformers were shown throughout history.
Theory: John Cena's Bumblebee Character Is The Start Of Hasbro's Shared Universe
The Cybertron scenes aside, most of Bumblebee's action will be set on Earth, with Optimus Prime (via hologram) charging his most loyal soldier with the mission to protect the humans and their planet, albeit as a robot in disguise. However, the Cybertron scenes and the cast of robots inhabiting the war-torn planet has fans the most excited. Here are all of the Transformers confirmed to appear in Bumblebee (so far).
- Transformers on Earth: Bumblebee & The Movie's Villains
- Transformers on Cybertron: Prime, Soundwave & Seekers
Bumblebee
The beloved yellow Autobot gets the spotlight to himself. Twenty years before he meets Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) as a Chevrolet Camaro (it remains to be seen if that continuity will be still be maintained), Bumblebee appears in 1987 as a Volkswagen Beetle, his Generation-1 guise. Bumblebee turns out to be an 18th birthday present by Charlie Watson to herself, but when he reveals his true robot form to her, they form a friendship. It seems like Bumblebee will fight the Decepticons on Earth all by his lonesome, with only his new human friends to help.
Blitzwing
Four Decepticons are confirmed to be Bumblebee's main enemies in the film. From the latest trailer, it seems the evil Transformers have revealed themselves to the human agents of Sector 7, which counts Agent Burns (John Cena) as one of their leaders. The Decepticons lie to Sector 7 and frame Bumblebee as a criminal, enlisting the unwitting humans' aid in destroying the Autobot.
The first is Blitzwing (voiced by David Sobolov), a Decepticon seeker who transforms into a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter jet. Due to his red and white colors, fans had originally assumed Blitzwing was actually Starscream, but it's been confirmed this is not the case.
Dropkick and Shatter
The main duo hunting Bumblebee are Shatter (voiced by Angela Bassett), a blue triple-changer who transforms into a red Plymouth Satellite and a Harrier Jump Jet, and Dropkick (voiced by Justin Theroux), a red triple-changer who also takes the guises of an AMC Javelin muscle car and a Bell AH-1 SuperCobra attack helicopter. Neither has a storied history in prior Transformers media, which frees up an alternative exploration.
Related: Bumblebee's Story & How it Fits Into the Transformers Timeline
Also reportedly in the film is Barricade, with voice actor Jess Harnell confirmed to be reprising the role. He previously appeared in the original Transformers, a Decepticon scout who was the first to fight Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Barnes (Megan Fox).
Page 2 of 2: Transformers on Cybertron in Bumblebee
Optimus Prime
The benevolent leader of the Autobots is glimpsed leading the heroic forces on Cybertron, as well as in a message Bumblebee via hologram with his mission on Earth. Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) looks exactly like his red and blue Generation-1 incarnation, which is his most popular form. That Prime is not on Earth synchs with how he didn't arrive on the human homeworld until 2007, as seen in the first Transformers film.
Soundwave and Ravage
The big reveal in the latest trailer is an army of Decepticons shown on the war-torn planet Cybertron, although notably missing is Megatron. The Decepticon leader crashed on Earth in 1897 while seeking the AllSpark Cube and was frozen in ice before being captured by Sector 7 and held in stasis beneath the Hoover Dam. In the absence of their leader, the Decepticons continue to fight their war of attrition against the Autobots.
The standout new addition is Soundwave. The Decepticons' communications officer with the distinctive voice, Soundwave famously transforms into a 1980s cassette player in Generation-1. In Bumblebee, Soundwave resembles that form, complete with his chest chamber that houses fellow Decepticons that transform into mini-cassettes. Soundwave opens his chamber and unleashes Ravage, who transforms into a black robot panther.
Related: How Bumblebee Could Accidentally Soft Reboot Transformers
Shockwave and The Decepticon Seekers
That's not all for the Decepticons on Cybertron, with one shot in particular being a goldmine. It shows who appears to be the sadistic Decepticon military commander Shockwave commanding the various team members. Shockwave transforms into a Cybertonian laser gun, and was previously seen in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, but here has a major redesign.
He's flanked by either Starscream or Blitzwing. The design certainly matches G1 Starscream, but the coloring matches Bumblebee's Blitzwing (which already fooled fans). If that is Blitzwing, it definitely sets the Cybertron scenes as flashbacks before his arrives on Earth to hunt Bumblebee. In addition, the red Decepticon partially seen behind Shockwave resembles Shatter, which lends credence to this being a flashback.
The rest of the team would be elite aerial warriors, the Decepticon Seekers. The seeker with the distinctive conehead could be either Dirge or Ramjet based on the dark green/blue-ish color scheme. The other blue and purple Seeker resemble Skywarp and Thundercracker, Starscream's two main wingmen. The Seekers are also seen as Cybertronian aircraft soaring through the skies opening fire on unidentified Autobots.
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Some of these Transformers may just be small cameos, while others could be entirely in flashback. However, their G1 presence in Bumblebee is undeniably exciting and opens up a lot of new potential for the whole Transformers franchise. And who knows what other surprises are in store?
