Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Director Brought “True Fan” POV to Franchise

Transformers are returning to the big screen this summer in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which is set to be a live-action adaptation of the fan-favorite Transformers: Beast Wars series. The was helmed by Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II) and the lineup of Transformers characters is expected to include Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Mirage, Arcee, Wheeljack, Scourge, and Nightbird. The plot of the new film will follow the prequel timeline from Bumblebee and move to 1994 Brooklyn, where “a pair of archaeologists from Brooklyn come into an ancient conflict through a globe-trotting adventure that ties in with three factions of Transformers: the Maximals, the Predacons and the Terrorcons.” During a panel at SXSW, Caple Jr. and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura talked about the movie’s big battle in addition to creating a movie for the fans. 

“We were trying to do a lot, there have been quite a few Transformers films in the past,” Caple explained. “To Lorzeno’s point, when you’re trying to create something new, I felt like Transformers has a lot of factions that we’ve never played with before. Terracons, Autobots, we’re pretty used to Decepticons. Predacons, Maximals, the Beast Wars element, so I really wanted to bring that to the table. I’m a fan of it. I won’t throw my age out there. I was born in the ’80s. I was a kid when Beast Wars actually came out. So I got to experience it as a child, and I love it for the graphics, because it was something new and different at the time.”

Caple continued, “I’m very connected to the characters. Then building them out designing [them]. I’m still tripped out that Optimus Prime is out there [on display at SXSW], like we’ve been looking at a tennis ball for the last year. Just to see him built and we put so much work into each piece of Primal and making it feel real and connecting him to the Autobots. I just wanted to bring something new and fresh to the table and the Maximals are that. We have Cheetor, who is in the film, Air Razor. We have a huge cast. It’s going to be a crazy and amazing experience for everybody to see the Autobots and Maximals work together…and maybe fight? Maybe.”

di Bonaventura added, “But also, I think Steven said, he grew up with it, when you have a fan’s point of view, the way he came to it, is one of the reasons why we wanted to work with him on this. Having that, identifying it in your gut as opposed to knowing them later on in your life is a really huge advantage. It shows up in the film across it, not just on the Maximals but on everything because it’s coming from that true fan point of view.”

Who Stars in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?

Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback lead the human cast for the film which includes some surprising voice actors like Ron Perlman as the gorilla-inspired Optimus Primal, Michelle Yeoh as fellow Maximal Airazor, and Pete Davidson as Autobot Mirage.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is officially described as follows: “Returning to the action and spectacle that first captured moviegoers around the world 14 years ago with the original Transformers, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ’90s globetrotting adventure and introduce the Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons to the existing battle on earth between Autobots and Decepticons.” 

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts hits theaters on June 9th.