A new featurette for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts further teases the introduction of Beast Wars favorites Optimus Primal, Airazor, Rhinox, and Cheetor to the world of live action. Released courtesy of Screen Rant, the footage takes us behind-the-scenes and offers a glimpse at the arrival of the Maximals, the descendants (to put it as simply as possible) of the Autobots. Check out the new Transformers: Rise of the Beasts featurette below.
Director Steven Caple Jr. and stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback discuss the imminent arrival of the Maximals, with the filmmaker hyping up their long-awaited introduction. “We've seen the Maximals in the graphic novels, and we've seen them in the cartoon, but we've never seen them in live action,” the director, who has also helmed the likes of Creed II and The Land, said of finally bringing the Beast Wars heroes to the big screen.
The Maximals are led by the gorilla Optimus Primal, voiced by Hellboy star Ron Perlman, with some of the other members including the falcon-like Airazor, voiced by recent Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh), the Rhino based Maximal Rhinox, voiced by David Sobolov, and quick, wise-cracking Cheetor, voiced by Tongayi Chiris.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has been described as a spiritual successor to 2018’s Bumblebee, with director Steven Caple Jr. shifting the franchise from the 1980s and into the 1990s. Thus, the Bumblebee follow-up will take place in 1994, which also, therefore, makes it a prequel-of-sorts to the long-running Transformers cinematic franchise, which began back in 2007. Dropping us in 1994, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will follow a pair of archeologists from Brooklyn who find themselves at the center of an ancient conflict that takes them on a globe-trotting adventure that ties in with three factions of Transformers: the Maximals, the Predacons and the Terrorcons.
In the Heights Star Anthony Ramos Leads Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is all set to be led by In the Heights star Anthony Ramos as Noah, an ex-military electronics expert who finds himself dragged into the intergalactic battle between warring factions of giant robots. Thankfully he will not be alone, with Judas and the Black Messiah star Dominique Fishback by his side as Elena, an ambitious, talented artifact researcher who too finds herself swept up in the conflict as Optimus Prime and the Autobots face a terrifying new nemesis.
Much like how Bumblebee was cemented in the 1980s, director Steven Caple Jr. plans to do the same with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and the 1990s, taking inspiration from the 1991 action classic Terminator 2: Judgment Day. "I think you'll feel the sense of a journey and expedition in this film. This go-around that connects all of those to what you're saying. Terminator 2 is classic,” the filmmaker said of the Transformers prequel/sequel last year. “The heaviness of the metal, if you will, all that stuff plays into it. So I think when you're looking at our film and looking at sort of where we're taking it, [we] kind of want to bring that classic expedition, that classic journey through New York and where we go from there."
The rest of the cast includes Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's Lauren Vélez, the rapper Tobe Nwigwe, Transformers legend Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, alongside Pete Davidson as Mirage, Grey Griffin as Arcee, Sebastian Maniscalco as Wheeljack, Ron Perlman as Optimus Primal and Everything, Everywhere All at Once star Michelle Yeoh as Airazor. The rest of the cast includes Liza Koshy, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Colman Domingo, Cristo Fernández, Tongayi Chirisa, John DiMaggio, and David Sobolov.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has been well-received by critics so far, and is scheduled to be released in the United States on June 9, 2023, by Paramount Pictures.