Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Director Reveals a Few Predacons Were Cut From Film (Exclusive)

Not only is the Transformers franchise returning to the big screen this weekend, but the series is finally bringing with it the characters of the beloved Beast Wars saga. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is set in the 1990s, and it will introduce the ever-popular Maximals to Autobots like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. It will also bring to life some villainous Transformers that aren’t Decepticons, though director Steven Caple Jr. didn’t get to include quite as many of the new baddies as he wanted to.

ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis recently sat down with the Rise of the Beasts director and asked if there were any Maximals that had to be cut from the final version of the film. According to Caple Jr., there wasn’t any issue with the Maximals, but he did have to get rid of multiple Predacons that he wanted to include in the movie.

“There were actually some Predacons,” Caple Jr. explained. “There’s a few Predacons that we had to take out of the film that I wanted to get in, for sure.”

There hasn’t been a lot of Rise of the Beasts marketing dedicated to the film’s villains just yet, so it’s tough to say just how many Predacons and Terracons will be involved. 

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which premieres on June 9th, is the seventh movie in the live-action Transformers franchise. Inspired by the fan-favorite reboot of the series, the iconic Beast Wars, the movie is a globetrotting adventure set in the 1990s complete with an era-specific soundtrack. Peter Cullen returns to voice Optimus Prime in the new movie, appearing alongside other Autobots and Decepticons including Bumblebee and Pete Davidson as Mirage. Other factions from the Transformers franchise like the Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons will also appear, with Ron Perlman set to voice the gorilla-inspired Optimus Primal. Directed by Creed II‘s Steven Caple Jr. the film stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback on the human side with Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh voicing the Maximal Airazor.