Who is Transformers: The Last Knight’s Unicron?

Warning: spoilers ahead for Transformers: The Last Knight, in theaters now.

Unicron has finally arrived in the cinematic universe of Michael Bay’s Transformers.

The villain, first introduced in Transformers: The Movie, was originally depicted as a massive, planet-sized Transformer who ate other planets. Like Galactus in Marvel Comics, he had emissaries that did advance scouting for him — and that gave the writers an opportunity to reinvent Megatron and some of his Decepticon cronies.

Later versions of the mythology in other animated series and comic books would introduce the idea that Unicron was essentially the “evil twin” of Primus, the being who created the Transformers, and Optimus Prime had been created as one of a number of Primes who were designed to destroy Unicron.

In the feature film version, Unicron is something…very different.

Still a kind of “twin,” Unicron isn’t the evil one — and hardly seems sentient.

In fact, Unicron is the Cybertronian name for Earth, and it’s the Autobots’ centuries-old alliance with King Arthur and his Round Table that has drawn the Transformers back to the world time and time again.

The visual cue you get — which we, and other fans, picked up on early — is the giant protrusions from the ground seen in some of the trailers. The “horns” closely resemble the giant teeth that Unicron used to grip planets he ate.

In the third act, “Unicron” is key to defeating the Decepticons and Quintessa — although the latter…well, we’ll see how defeated she really is.

Transformers: The Last Knight shatters the core myths of the Transformers franchise, and redefines what it means to be a hero. Humans and Transformers are at war, Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving our future lies buried in the secrets of the past, in the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Saving our world falls upon the shoulders of an unlikely alliance: Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg); Bumblebee; an English Lord (Sir Anthony Hopkins); and an Oxford Professor (Laura Haddock).

There comes a moment in everyone’s life when we are called upon to make a difference. In Transformers: The Last Knight, the hunted will become heroes. Heroes will become villains. Only one world will survive: theirs, or ours.

Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci will reprise their roles from Transformers: Age of Extinction. Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, and John Turturro reprise their roles for the first three Transformers movies. The film also stars Isabela Moner, Laura Haddock, Anthony Hopkins, Santiago Cabrera, Liam Garrigan, Jerrod Carmichael, and Mitch Pileggi.

Transformers: The Last Knight’s voice cast includes Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, John Goodman as Hound, and John DiMaggio as Crosshairs. Other transformers appearing the film include Bumblebee, Drift, Hot Rod, Cogman, Canopy, Sqweeks, Grimlock, Megatron, Barricade, Onslaught, Hooligan, and Mohawk.

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