During a production kickoff event that yours truly was able to attend today, director Steven Caple Jr. officially revealed that his upcoming Transformers sequel will officially be titled Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and, as rumored, will finally introduce Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons to the billion-dollar franchise.
Caple also revealed that the film will take place in 1994, so it won't overlap with the previous six installments, and will primarily be set in New York City - specifically Brooklyn. The action will also take the robots in disguise to Machu Picchu in Peru.
Optimus Prime will be the lead robot hero of the film, this time sporting an absolutely awesome G1 design, and Peter Cullen will be back to provide his voice. This film will serve as an origin story of sorts for the character as it explores his first true adventure on Earth and see him become the legendary leader we know and love.
Bumblebee will also be back, with a new vehicle design that's an off-road Camaro variant of his usual look. It picks up several years after the events of his solo film, but the ending of that film will directly feed into the beginning of this one.
The roster also features Mirage, who transforms into a Porsche 911, and a pair of new female characters in Arcee, who transforms into a Ducati 916, and the Terrorcon Nightbird, who has switched allegiances and transforms into a black-and-purple Nissan GTR.
Scourge will be the main villain of the piece, a massive orange-and-black Decepticon who takes the symbols from his victims and fuses them onto his body as trophies.
As for the titualr Beasts, we saw concept art for Airazor (falcon), Rhinox (rhinoceros), and Optimus Primal (gorilla) - all of whom will have a key role to play. More will be revealed in the coming months.
Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback will be the human leads of the film. Ramos is playing an ex-military character named Noah who is always hustling and is a bit of a tech wiz while Fishback is playing Elena, a museum researcher.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is set to open in theaters on June 24, 2022.
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. Directed by Steven Caple Jr. and starring Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, the film arrives in theatres June 24, 2022.