Transformers’ ‘Bumblebee’ Featurette Reveals New Optimus Prime Footage, First Look At Arcee And Cliffjumper

Fans are headed back in time when Bumblebee hits theaters, and a new featurette reveals just how fun this movie is going to be for fans of Generation 1, and features a first look at Arcee and Cliffjumper to boot.

The new Bumblebee featurette kicks off with Director Travis Knight, who grew up loving the classic Transformers. “I’m a child of the 80s. I grew up playing with the Transformers action figures and I grew up watching the animated series,” Knight said. “Going back to my experience as a kid, Autobots were always cars, Decepticons were always aircraft.”

“Were simplifying, squaring things out like the toy, and it conjures up that G1 aesthetic,” Visual Effects Supervisor Jason Smith said, with Production Designer Sean Haworth adding “Every detail we could get off of the cartoon we applied to the characters.”

You’ll notice that in one specific scene during their discussion about going back to the more classic designs Optimus Prime takes the battlefield, and if you look closely you can see he is joined by another memorable Autobot Cliffjumper. Cliffjumper’s bright red paint job can be seen on the lower left of Optimus, but Cliffjumper could also be on the right-hand side of Optimus later in that sequence, as a red Autobot is shown alongside a pink Autobot that very well could be Arcee, though it’s hard to see her face. You can see the images for yourself above and below.

If you’re unfamiliar with Bumblebee, you can find the official synopsis for the film below.

“On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.”

Bumblebee is produced by Transformers franchise veterans Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Michael Bay, along with executive producers Steven Spielberg, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. Chris Brigham (Argo, Inception) will also executive produce. The screenplay is written by Christina Hodson (Unforgettable).

Bumblebee stars Hailee Steinfeld (Edge of Seventeen), John Cena (Daddy’s Home 2), Pamela Adlon (Better Things), Stephen Schneider (Broad City), Jorge Lendenborg Jr. (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Jason Drucker (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Hall), Kenneth Choi (American Crime Story), Ricardo Hoyos (Degrassi: Next Class), Abby Quinn (Landline), Rachel Crow (Deidra & Laney Rob a Train), and Grace Dzienny (Zoo).

Bumblebee hits theaters on December 21st.