New Transformers movie reveals origin of Optimus Prime

Details have emerged regarding a new Transformers movie, including the fact that the animated film will detail the origin of Optimus Prime and Megatron.

The Transformers will be back on the big-screen very soon, courtesy of live-action movie Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

That film is set to hit screens in July of this year. But next year, another Transformers movie is coming; an animated feature that’s helmed by Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley.

The as-yet-untitled flick will serve as a prequel to the live-action movies. And we now have some details regarding the plot.

New Transformers movie reveals origin of Optimus Prime

Of plans for the animated Transformers movie, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told Collider: “This is something we were trying to do; we debated a lot about it in live action, and it just was financially impossible to do, which is, the origin story of young Megatron and young Optimus.

“If you know the origin, they started as friends, and over time things devolved for them and they ended up on two sides. So we’re telling the young Optimus and the young Megatron story.

“We really are telling the origin story of all Transformers, both what they were at the beginning of it, to how they grow, to how they grow apart.”

The influence of Superman

Di Bonaventura then revealed that the film will take inspiration from the Superman mythos, explaining: “You’re going to see a lot of the origins of the society, and what broke it apart. The analogy for me is a bit like Krypton when you saw the planet falling apart, and all that.

“We’re not there for a short time, we’re there the entire time of the movie, we’re on Cybertron, but we are in the challenge that, if you know the lore, they begin to question the hierarchy of how their society has gotten stratified, and how the common man doesn’t have the voice, entirely, that they want to have.

“We’re following very true to the origin story of it, and so it’s really fun, too, because I’ve gotten to see some of it – it’s not fully executed by any stretch of the imagination, but hearing Optimus and Megatron not as who we know them as, which we see their maturation in this experience. So, in a sense, you’re hearing a different character because you’re hearing them before they have matured.”

Animated Transformers trilogy planned

Di Bonaventura added that he wants the animated movie to be the jumping off point for a trilogy.

“We’re hoping that there is enough emotional construct to that, that would lead to a trilogy,” the producer told Collider. “Because, personally, I think there’s a natural trilogy. I’m not always looking to do multiple movies, but there’s a natural trilogy around their relationship.

“You’re going to see Cybertron in a way you’ve never seen it, that no one’s ever seen it before. Because we’re doing an animation, we’re allowed to really go all out. If you tried to make this live-action, it would probably be a billion-dollar movie or something.”

We’ll have more news on this one as-and-when it breaks. For more Transformers updates, head here.