Every rivalry has to begin somewhere. The battle between the Autobots and Decepticons is what has fueled Transformers since the beginning, and at the heart of that is the hatred that exists between their leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron. But how did it all start? Paramount expands the franchise into animation with Transformers One, which takes us to the surface of Cybertron and to a time when Optimus and Megatron were friends.
Following the world premiere footage unveiled at CinemaCon, a new trailer shows us Paramount’s ambitious Transformers One. For the first time in ages, Peter Cullen doesn’t return to voice Optimus Prime. Instead, it’s Chris Hemsworth who takes on the younger version of Optimus, or Orion Pax as he was known in the beginning, with Brian Tyree Henry as D-16, who would eventually become Megatron.
I think the first thing that will surprise people is how funny this trailer is. The Transformers can get pretty serious, especially when it delves into early aspects of the war, but there’s a lot of humor to be found here. We also see the first time they begin experimenting with their transformation powers, which is very cool.
Also in the cast are Scarlett Johansson as Elita-1, Keegan-Michael Key as B-127 aka Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion, plus Steve Buscemi in an undisclosed role.
Behind the camera is Josh Cooley, known for directing Toy Story 4. Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay remain aboard as exec-producers, as they have for all of Paramount’s live-action Transformers movies.
Hasbro and Paramount will drop Transformers One into theaters on September 13t. I haven’t been this hyped for Transformers since Bumblebee a few years ago. This looks as good as I could’ve hoped.
