The Maximals are finally making their live-action debut in the upcoming Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
During a press conference for the seventh Transformers film attended by CBR, three Maximals from the ’90s animated series Beast Wars were confirmed. Optimus Primal, the gorilla-themed Maximal leader named after Optimus Prime, will appear alongside his namesake in the new movie. He’ll be joined by the falcon-inspired Airazor and the rhinoceros-disguised Rhinox.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is directed by Steven Caple Jr. and is a progression in the Transformers timeline, placing it after Bumblebee but before the Michael Bay films. Rise of the Beasts will also take place in 1994 New York City. Along with the Maximals and Optimus Prime, the film will feature Bumblebee (taking the form of a yellow dune buggy) along with the live-action debut of Arcee. Nightbird and Mirage will also appear, while Scourge will serve as the film’s villain.
Last year, word emerged of a Bumblebee follow-up film and a Beast Wars movie. It appears that those two projects have merged. In all likelihood, Rise of the Beasts could serve as the jumping-off point for a separate Beast Wars franchise.
Debuting in 1996, Beast Wars: Transformers ran for three seasons and was followed by the two-season sequel series Beast Machines: Transformers. Taking place 300 years after the main Transformers stories, warring factions the Maximals and Predacons land on Earth and assume the forms of various animals. The series, one of the first CGI-animated shows, featured overarching stories that saw the appearance of more and more characters, featured changing forms for the heroes and villains and wove in elements of Transformers lore.
Given its story, it appears the characters will be tweaked for the new movie as they’ll exist alongside the main characters. Since the show’s end, the story has lived on across various comic book series, with the latest a reboot published by IDW that began earlier this year.
The first five Transformers films were directed by Bay, with Travis Knight helming Bumblebee. However, while all the films have been box-office powerhouses, all — save for Bumblee — have received largely negative reviews.
Directed by Steven Caple Jr., Transformers: Rise of the Beasts stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback. The film has yet to receive a release date.
Source: Paramount press conference
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