When Transformers: Dawn of the Beasts hits theaters in 2023, it will bring with it some of the characters from the classic ’90s animated series, Beast Wars. Of course, the most striking is Optimus Primal.
The film’s trailer makes that clear, but it’s not just Primal or his Maximal partners that feature. We’ve already received confirmation of several Transformers appearing in the feature, and many more are yet to appear. In today’s article we will talk about those that have already been confirmed.
Optimus Prime
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Optimus Prime returns for Transformers: Dawn of the Beasts. Optimus is the leader of the Autobots and has appeared in every Transformers film to date. He was last seen in a small role on Bumblebee which included debuting his G1 design.
After participating in the war against Cybertron, Optimus finally arrived on Earth at the end of the film. His appearance will continue his story a few years later, with the new Transformers set in 1994. Optimus will have a lot more depth in this film compared to the previous ones as the trailer proves for the first time Optimus Prime seems as groping in the dark as the human characters.
Optimus Ur
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The Maximals in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts mark the debut of Optimus Primal (played by Ron Perlman). Not to be confused with Optimus Prime, Optimus Primal is the leader of the Maximals who takes the form of a silver gorilla as seen in the film’s trailer.
In the Transformers canon, Primal is a sort of Optimus’ spiritual successor to Prime and possibly one of Cybertron’s greatest heroes. He appeared in the Beast Wars animated series which we have already talked about here on the channel but later also in other animations and especially comics. Primal led the charge of the Maximals in their pursuit of Megatron’s Predacons, leading to the event known as Beast Wars.
bumblebee
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Transformers: Dawn of the Beasts will also bring back Bumblebee in a prominent role. He will be back in his Camaro look after the end of his solo film storyline.
An interesting observation is that according to the trailer, this time Bumblebee will not be the Transformer that the human protagonist is related to.
From what we’ve seen so far, Anthony Ramos’ character Noah seems to have the closest connection to Mirage, the Autobot Porsche. While this might disappoint some fans, it also makes a lot of sense. Bumblebee was related to Sam Witwicky and Charlie Watson getting a third human companion would be cliché enough.
Mirage
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The Porsche shown in the Transformers: Dawn of the Beasts trailer is the Autobot named Mirage. Mirage seems to have a prominent role in the new film considering he has a strong connection with Noah.
Mirage previously appeared in Transformers: Dark of the Moon to help stop Sentinel and Megatron. His car form in this film was a red Ferrari 458 Italia, but now it’s a silver and blue striped Porsche 911, closer to its G1 design.
As her name suggests, Mirage is traditionally a character with many abilities that aid in covert missions, and The Awakening of the Beast gave the Autobot the ability to turn invisible, thereby creating illusions.
arcee
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Arcee will return in Transformers: Dawn of the Beasts. She is an Autobot field commander loyal to Optimus Prime. After a brief appearance in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Arcee recently appeared in the Cybertron War at the beginning of “Bumblebee.”
Her return confirms that she arrived safely on Earth and followed Optimus Prime’s directions as to where to go next. His specialty in previous stories was handtohand combat and sword fighting. Arcee is known for taking on motorcycle forms, with a pink and white Ducati 916 said to be her look in the new film.
night bird
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One of the new characters introduced in Transformers: Dawn of the Beasts is known as Nightbird. This name refers to several characters from this series’ mythology, but the specific version appearing in the film is a giant female ninja robot.
She was raised by humans in the original cartoon continuity before joining the Decepticons. The story of Nightbird evolves into Transformers: Dawn of the Beasts. She will change factions and leave the Autobots’ side to join the Terrorcons, where she will be the righthand man of the main villain. Nightbird will sport a black and purple Nissan GTR livery for the new film.
scourge
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As for the main villain of Transformers: Dawn of the Beast, that role belongs to Scourge. He is a Decepticon in the original continuity created by Unicron from dead Decepticons. The character works as a tracker for Galvatron and is incredibly powerful.
It looks like the new film will change Scourge’s backstory a bit since he’s the leader of the Terrorcons here. He is also played by Peter Dinklage, better known as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones. The character’s design also differs from his liveaction debut, as he has a giant blue claw on his left hand that contains some electricity component.
Airazor
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Another maximal robot making his debut in The Beasts Awakens is the flying Airazor, played by the legendary Michelle Yeoh. Originally introduced in the storyline of the Beast Wars animated series, Airazor is used by the Maximals for reconnaissance and surveillance.
Confident and bold, she takes on the animal form of a bird, which is natural given her ability to fly. Airazor will work closely with Optimus Primal and the other Maximals throughout the film.
Cheetor
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The actor who voiced Cheetor hasn’t been revealed, but the fact is, this Maximal is one of the robots that Beast Wars fans are most excited to see in live action. The trailer for Transformers: Dawn of the Beasts already showed footage of Cheetor in his animal form accompanying Bumblebee in a desert.
Of course, as the cheetah, Cheetor was one of the most iconic and instantly recognizable characters from Hasbro’s original cast of Beast Wars, and as such he received quite a bit of screen time in the animated series. The more toy sales, the more participation. That’s how it works.
rhino
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Transformers: Rise of the Beast will also feature Rhinox. The gigantic and powerful Beast Wars character is another member of the Maximals and takes the form of a rhino. Rhinox is described as the mastermind of Operation Maximal in the new Transformers movie.
This fits in well with the character’s previous incarnations, which made him a techsavvy member of the team while being incredibly smart and loyal to the Max cause.
Read more about Transformers: Dawn of the Beasts
Returning to the action and spectacle that first captivated moviegoers around the world 14 years ago with the original Transformers, Transformers: Awakening of the Beasts will take the audience on a world adventure set in the 1990’s and introduce the Maximals, Predacons and Terrorcons to the ongoing struggle between Autobots and Decepticons on Earth.
Steven Cape Jr. (Creed II) takes care of the direction Anthony Ramos (In a New York neighborhood) and Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah) Star.
Transformers: Awakening of the Beasts is slated for June 9, 2023 and will be responsible for launching a new trilogy of films in the franchise.