Beasts, which will take on the beloved ’90s toy and storyline Beast Wars.
“He’s brought a new perspective to the franchise,” franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said of Caple. “We want to deliver a film that has the scale and spectacle of the [Michael] Bay films with the heart and humor that we were able to achieve in [Bumblebee].”
The battle on Earth is no longer just between Autobots and Decepticons… Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons join Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, in theatres June 24, 2022. pic.twitter.com/VtS4CjSxLy
— Transformers (@transformers) June 22, 2021
Rise of the Beasts is set in 1994 New York City, though it will also globetrot to such places as Machu Picchu in Peru. Having “somewhat exhausted” the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, this new outing will see Autobots versus Terrorcons, while the Maximals take on the Predacons. (Don’t worry, there will still be some Decepticons too.)
The roster of Autobots will be fronted by — who else? — Optimus Prime, albeit in his Generation 1 form. Rise of the Beasts will explore who Prime is “underneath the metal” (as Caple says) and how he becomes the leader we know him as. He’ll be joined by Bumblebee (in off-road Camaro form), the rebellious speedster Mirage (a Porsche 911) and the “super tough and fierce” female Transformer Arcee (a Ducati motorcycle).
With Megatron sitting this one out, the villain of Rise of the Beats is Scourge, the ruthless leader of the Terrorcons and his ninja-like right-hand woman, Nightbird (now in Nissan GT-R form).
As for the titular Beasts, they’ll be led by Optimus Primal, the wise leader of the Maximals who appears as a giant, rustic gorilla. He’ll star alongside the rhinoceros-esque muscle of the group, Rhinox, and avian heart of the Maximals, Airazor.
No Transformers film is complete without a human cast, this time fronted by real-life New York natives Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback. The latter plays Elena, an artifacts researcher fighting to prove herself in her field, while Ramos stars as Noah, an ex-military electronics whiz and family man. The actor got his license literally two weeks ago just for this film.
“No one’s ever seen a Transformers like this,” Ramos said. “I read the script and almost threw it across the room… To intertwine these two worlds, of Brooklyn and New York with the Transformers, with these characters now, it’s a recipe for some sh*t!”
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is set to hit theaters on June 24, 2022.
