Tag: Transformers

Studio Trigger Rolls Out With a Mysterious Transformers Anime Project

Posted on by faz_business


Along with Hollywood’s massive live-action movies, the Transformers have been cutting up on the small screen with multiple TV shows over the years. While Transformers: Earthspark’s second season just hit Paramount+ back in June, something brand new appears to be waiting in the wings.

Earlier in the week, anime studio Trigger (best known for Promare, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and Delicious in Dungeon) revealed it was working on something to celebrate the popular toy franchise’s newest benchmark. The Robots in Disguise turn 40 this year, and the short teaser features some brief glimpses of series mascots Optimus Prime and Megatron (plus Bumblebee and Hot Rod) in the famous G1 versions of their iconic designs, and Trigger’s reimagining of those. (Interestingly, some eagle-eyed viewers spotted Optimus from Transformers Animated!) But as far as what Trigger is specifically making—like a simple celebration video or something bigger like an intro for an unannounced game—is currently under wraps.

Transformers and animationn have always been tight, but this marks the franchise’s third time dipping into actual anime following Transformers: Cybertron in 2005 and the Japan-only Transformers Go! in 2015. Conversely, Trigger is no stranger to the mecha scene: beginning with 2018’s Darling in the Franxx, it’s worked on mecha projects under the Gridman series. Given the studio’s larger pedigree, it’ll be exciting to see what Trigger’s doing for the franchise’s birthday, because you know it’ll look good as hell.

While we wait for more information on this mysterious Transformers venture, Transformers One may scratch any itch you have for some good animated material from the franchise. That movie hits theaters on September 20, and you can look forward to our review closer to release.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Transformers One Will Have Younger, Messier Robots in Disguise

Posted on by faz_business


Megatron (D-16) and Optimus Prime in Transformers One.

Image: Paramount

Earlier in the week, we got our first look at Transformers One, and it probably didn’t look like what you were imagining. The animated movie, which is meant to serve as an origin story for Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry)—here respectively known as Orion Pax and D-16—is sillier than expected, and predates the Autobot/Decepticon war that serves as the franchise’s foundation. If you’re on the fence after that trailer, director Josh Cooley’s here to assuage your concerns, and also give some more insight into how the movie will serve its characters.

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Talking to IGN, Cooley explained that the trailer’s comedy focus was in part to help audiences “fall in love with [Orion and D-16] as brothers and friends” before things hit the fan. “They’re from the same generation and have a very tight relationship,” he continued, “[and] something happens on their planet that they both have two different reactions to. By the end of this film, there’s some serious stakes.”

In D-16’s case, those stakes involve treating him like he’s not automatically booked to be a villain. Cooley described the future Megatron as someone who should be “very real and fully rounded. D-16 takes [things] to a place, just a lot of anger, but you understand why.” With Henry’s insight, the team ensured that audiences would relate to D-16 and get where he was coming from before an undescribed event changes his outlook on Cybertron in ways that lead to a “natural split” with Orion. Cooley hopes that before the credits roll, fans and newcomers will view D-16 and Orion’s conflict as a very real and tragic split between old friends.

As for Orion, he’s described by Cooley as someone who’s driven, but doesn’t always put the drive to its best use. He’ll have to discover how to earn the name Optimus Prime, and what being Optimus Prime really even means. “Like anybody else, there is a level of maturity that we don’t have unless we’ve gone through something. […] We’re really taking these characters to heart and treating them with the respect that they deserve and knowing where they’re going to end up. It’s just seeing how they get there.”

Transformers One comes to theaters on September 20.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.