TRANSFORMERS ONE Director Says Film is a Whole New Origin That Will Stay "True to the Lore of Transformers"
It was really jarring for me while watching the first trailer for Paramount Pictures’ upcoming Transformers One animated movie. This movie looks nothing like I expected, and the more I watch the trailer, the more I don’t like the direction they’ve taken this movie.
The director of the film, Josh Cooley, recently talked about the movie and how it will be giving up a whole new origin for these iconic characters.
While speaking to CB, he said: “We did our take on the origin, which is still staying true to the lore of Transformers.” He then described it as “something we’ve never seen before on screen.”
I was really hoping that they would actually do a modern Transformers movie right, but they continue to make all the wrong creative decisions. I’m sorry, but Transformers One is not a real Transformers movie. That looks like silly kid fan-fiction to me.
Cooley went on to say that this film is not a prequel to any of the live action films, saying: “I wouldn’t say that this is a direct prequel to anything that’s been done with live-action ones. But it’s definitely its own story as well.”
I wouldn’t say this is a prequel to anything. Not even the original animated series. This is just its own full on reboot. They are starting fresh, and not in the best way.
In a separate interview with ScreenRant, Cooley talked about how depicting the origin story of Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry) was the selling point in directing the prequel.
Cooley also reveals that he was given a “Transformers Bible” by Hasbro which was supposed to guide him through the story process. In the end, the director threw that out tried something different by emphasizing the early relationship between Prime and Megatron.
Cooley said: “Even if you’ve never seen Transformers before, even if you’ve never read the comics, nothing – you can watch this movie and be totally invested.
He continued: “You see these two characters and go, ‘Yeah, they’re great together.’ Orion and D-16 before they become Optimus and Megatron? They’re awesome. You want to see them together, you want to love them together, so that when the relationship starts to fall apart, it’s a tragedy.”
He added: “At the end of it, you’re just like, ‘Oh, man, it sucks that they’re going to become enemies.’ Regardless of all the different tellings of the origin, the most important thing was that relationship.”
I’m fine with exploring that relationship, I’m just not a fan of the whole silly and light comedic tone that they are going with. Or how the personalities of the characters have been completely changed.
In the actual origin, Megatron and Optimus Prime considered each other brothers before the fall of Cybertron. They actually both ruled Cybertron together, under Sentinel Prime's teachings.
Megatron went by the name Megatronus and there was always a bit of jealousy toward Optimus, and they had different views. When Megatron learned that his adoptive brother was descended from the Dynasty of Primes and gained Sentinel's favoritism, it pushed him over the edge.
After being corrupted by the Fallen, Megatronus shortened his name to Megatron and betrayed whatever trust and brotherhood he and Optimus had left. For the next millennium, the two fought each other from two sides of the Cybertronian war, Optimus as leader of the Autobots and Megatron as leader of the Decepticons.
There’s just a more awesome and badass way to tell that story than the direction Cooley has gone. What do you think?
The rest of the voice cast includes Scarlett Johansson as Elita-1, Keegan-Michael Key as the early version of Bumblebee (B-127), Laurence Fishburne will voice Alpha Trion, and Jon Hamm will voice Sentinel Prime.
The movie will be released on September 20th, 2024.