Rise Of The Beasts: Why Transformers Is Finally Making Beast Wars Now

The Transformers franchise’s seventh film is titled Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, drawing inspiration from the animated series Beast Wars: Transformers — here’s why Beast Wars movie took so long. For fans of the Michael Bay Transformers movies wondering what Beast Wars is and why it’s caused such a hype, Transformers 7 will introduce mainstream audiences to new factions of Transformers, including Terrorcons and Maximals, who are animal Transformers. Rise of the Beasts will take place seven years after the events of Bumblebee, allowing Paramount to reinvent the Transformers franchise without rebooting the cinematic universe. Moreover, the decision to pull from the classic animated series Beast Wars indicates the filmmakers are looking to bring something new to the franchise.

Franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said as much during Paramount’s showcase when he admitted they’d exhausted the rivalry between the Autobots and Decepticons. Transformers needs new storylines, hence finally pulling content from Beast Wars. Paramount recognized that franchises must evolve in order to stay relevant and exciting, meaning the timing is perfect for a Beast Wars movie. Adapting Beast Wars grants the opportunity to introduce new Transformer factions and bring in a new threat in the form of Scourge (Peter Dinklage). Though Bonaventura noted that the film wouldn’t be a direct adaptation, the trailer shows that the Predacons, Maximals, and Terracons will be explored. Here’s why the Beast Wars movie took so long, and why the wait means Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is arriving at the best time for the franchise.

Related: How Rise Of The Beasts Can Connect To Past Transformers Movies

Beast Wars Is The Best Direction For The Franchise

Why the Beast Wars movie took so long is still a mystery. However, the Transformers franchise had to adapt Beast Wars in the 202s to reinvent itself without rebooting the entire fictional universe — one Paramount has spent over a decade building, and still brings in billions of dollars. Though there are other Transformers stories that could be told, adapting Beast Wars also resolves the crucial problem of the repetitiveness of Autobots battling Decepticons. It also adds a layer of visual freshness by introducing Beast Wars’ Predacons and Maximals, which can transform in highly sophisticated ways audiences haven’t seen before. After all, the Transformers films are all about one-upping each other, and so far none have shown Ron Perlman voicing what is essentially a mechanized King Kong.

As for what Beast Wars is and why it’s different to normal Transformers cartoons, the series introduced Predacons and Maximals. These are descendants of Decepticons and Autobots, respectively, and they’re capable of transforming into ultra-realistic animal species. The evil Predacons tend to transform into cold-blooded reptiles and insects, while the peacekeeping Maximals tend to transform into Mammals. For example, the leader of the Maximals is Optimus Primal (voiced by Ron Perlman) and, as his name implies, transforms into a large gorilla. Given that Optimus Prime is in the film alongside Primal, it will be interesting to see the dynamic created between Prime and his Maximal counterpart.

In a way, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will perhaps look to capitalize on the success of recent films such as Godzilla vs Kong, which feature the clash of great monsters. There are definitely some parallels to be made between the properties in their sense of scale and over-the-top spectacle. As the name of the upcoming Transformers film has anything to imply, the Transformers franchise is looking to transform itself and set up a new series of Beast Wars-inspired films, starting with Rise of the Beasts.

Beast Wars Lets The Transformers Movies Focus On Transformers

There’s no denying that Michael Bay’s films lost themselves somewhere along the way, and the box office returns proved it. Bumblebee was a somewhat fruitful endeavor, though the reviews were certainly middling. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has the chance to turn all that around because it will focus on what makes the franchise great: Transformers. Over time, the Michael Bay movies became fixated on cars and vehicles rather than the Transformers themselves. Any form of a grounded human story got pushed to the wayside for CGI explosion-heavy driving sequences.

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On top of this, there was an over-focus on automotive product placement — the cars the Transformers transformed into became more important than the Transformers themselves. Explosions alone do not a good movie make, and the fatigue was clearly felt by the time The Last Knight came around. The new Transformers movie promises to put the robots back into the spotlight, with a slew of Transformers old and new. A new feud and fresh storyline will breathe new life into the franchise, so long as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts remembers what made the first movies great.

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