Even if you have only a surface- level familiarity with the Transformers franchise, you’ve likely heard one of these two taglines: “more than meets the eye” and “robots in disguise.” They sum up the franchise, they’re in the opening lyrics of the original 1980s animated series’ theme song and they’ve popped up consistently in promotional material for nearly every toy, TV series and film. But there’s another, lesser-known tagline that is more important to this moment in Transformers history: “Till all are one.” In the 1986 animated film, The Transformers: The Movie, Optimus Prime faintly utters these words with his dying breath. In 2021, the Netflix series Transformers: War for Cybertron: Kingdom combined Transformers and Beast Wars on the small screen. Now, the newest live-action film in the franchise, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, will unite core characters on the big screen. In these pages we will cover all things related to this amazing franchise, so grab a copy sit back and enjoy!
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO TRANSFORMERS
TILL ALL ARE ONE • WITH THE NEW FILM TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS, THE LONG NEGLECTED BEAST WARS ERA OF THE FRANCHISE FINALLY JOINS THE MAINSTREAM.
THE NEW FILM & ITS ORIGINS • TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS WILL BE THE FIRST LIVE-ACTION FILM TO DRAW FROM THE BEAST WARS ERA OF THE FRANCHISE. HOW WILL THE BLOCKBUSTER MEASURE UP TO THE ORIGINAL BEAST WARS ANIMATED SERIES?
RISE OF THE BEASTS WHY IT’S DIFFERENT • BEAST WARS FINALLY MAKES ITS BIG-SCREEN DEBUT IN THE SEVENTH LIVE-ACTION FILM IN THE BLOCKBUSTER FRANCHISE.
THE ORIGINAL TERRORCONS • Rise of the Beasts brings this sub-group of Decepticons to the big screen. Introduced in Season 3 of The Transformers, the original group of Terrorcons had five members:
MAXIMALS & MORE MEET THE NEW CAST MEMBERS. • THE FILM’S CAST INCLUDES ON-SCREEN TALENT AND VOICE ACTORS HAILING FROM HITS THAT SPAN HELLBOY TO HAMILTON TO GAME OF THRONES.
BEAST WARS • THE ANIMATED SERIES THAT INSPIRED THE MOVIE.
BEAST MACHINES: A DISAPPOINTING SEQUEL?
BEAST WARS II: SUPER LIFEFORM TRANSFORMERS AND MORE
THE TOYS MAXIMALS AND PREDACONS • THE PIVOT TO BEASTS WAS CONTROVERSIAL, BUT IT SAVED HASBRO’S TOY SALES, AND PERHAPS THE ENTIRE FRANCHISE.
Transformers Masterpiece: For the TV Perfectionist
A FRESH TAKE IN COMICS AND MANGA • AMERICAN AND JAPANESE COMIC BOOKS HAVE ALLOWED FOR MORE STORYTELLING AND AN EXPANSION OF THE BEAST WARS UNIVERSE.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN • BEFORE THE MICHAEL BAY FILMS AND BEAST WARS, TRANSFORMERS BEGAN WITH JAPANESE TOYS AND THE MINDS AT MARVEL COMICS.
WHO REALLY CAME UP WITH THE CONCEPT? • THE ROOTS OF THE TRANSFORMERS FRANCHISE CAN BE TRACED BACK TO A HUMBLE LINE OF TOYS FROM JAPAN.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? • SPEAKING OF LEGACY, WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THESE PEOPLE AFTER THE ADVENT OF TRANSFORMERS?
THE GEN. ONE TOYS • IT ALL STARTED WITH THESE AUTOBOT AND DECEPTICON TOYS.
THE 5 MOST EXPENSIVE TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND COLLECTIBLES
THE TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED SERIES THAT STARTED THE UNIVERSE • THE TV SHOW INTRODUCED CHARACTERS AND STORYLINES THAT HAVE BEEN REPEATED FOR NEARLY THREE DECADES.
PETER CULLEN • The Voice Behind Optimus Prime
FRANK WELKER, The Original Mouth of Megatron
THE MOVIE, AND THE FIRST DEATH OF OPTIMUS PRIME • TO PAVE WAY FOR NEW TOYS AND SEASON 3 OF THE TRANSFORMERS, PRODUCERS USED THE MOVIE TO KILL OFF MANY BELOVED CHARACTERS FROM SEASONS 1 AND 2.
HOW THE MOVIE & SOUNDTRACK ARE SO TOTALLY ’80S
TRANSFORMERS GOING DEEPER INTO THE WORLD OF AUTOBOTS & DECEPTICONS • TRANSFORMERS STORYTELLING STARTED WITH MARVEL, SO THE COMICS KEPT ON COMING.
THE BAYVERSE AND BEYOND • IN 2007, MICHAEL BAY’S TRANSFORMERS MADE...
