Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Sets Up Unicron as Major Villain for Franchise Future

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is being released in theaters next month, and it’s expected to be a live-action adaptation of the fan-favorite Transformers: Beast Wars series.  The movie follows the prequel timeline set up in Bumblebee and moves to 1994 Brooklyn with Anthony Ramos (Hamilton) and Dominique Fishback (Swarm) leading the human cast. Fans can also expect to see some of their favorite Autobots, including Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Mirage, Arcee, Wheeljack, Scourge, and Nightbird. Recently, director Steven Caple Jr. spoke with Den of Geek about including Unicron, the eternal arch-enemy of his twin brother Primus. Also known as Lord of Chaos, the villain Unicron is a planet-eater who is expected to make his live-action debut in Rise of the Beasts. In the interview, Caple Jr. revealed he is hoping he’ll be a major villain of the franchise going forward. 

“I introduced Unicron,” Caple Jr. shared. “I was dying for Unicron to show up in a live-action movie, and to be honest, I’ll put it out there, I want him to be across the next two or three films, a really huge major villain.” He added, “I feel like we spent a lot of time on Earth, and it’d be interesting to see what else is out there, there are different Transformers and different planets, and we just need the right vehicle and the right team to really do it … I feel like this was the foundation of that, of something really special.”

What Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts About?

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.” 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.’

“We were trying to do a lot, there have been quite a few Transformers films in the past,” Caple said during SXSW. “To Lorzeno’s [di Bonaventura] 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.”

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