'Transformers': Josh Cooley's reboot might see fan-favorite Optimus Prime die in battle
'Transformers' dominated the box office for nearly a decade. However, the last few years were rather rough for the franchise as the last film 'Transformers: The Last Knight' bombed at the box office. Paramount Pictures lost 100 million with this debacle and so the planned sequel had to be shelved. The studio began to focus on the prequel spin-off 'Bumblebee', which was a fair success but could not touch the heights of success that the earlier films had achieved. Yet, it proved that the franchise had the potential to return.
So while there are several Transformers films in the works, they're still in the nascent stage and nothing concrete has emerged. Yet it has come to light, that an animated film, helmed by Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) might just be in the process of materializing. While nothing has been confirmed, there are rumors that the film might feature the death of one of our favorite characters.
According to We Got This Covered, the film will be an origin story that will take place on the Transformers' home planet Cybertron and will focus on the relationship between Optimus Prime and Megatron. This brought on the speculation whether the film will be inspired by the popular 1986 animated movie, 'Transformers: The Movie'. In that, Optimus Prime and Megatron are killed in battle. When Megatron eventually morphs into Galvatron, Optimus Prime still remains dead. Obviously, this upset fans very much at the time. The upcoming film is expected to feature this death, allowing Hot Rod to step into the leadership role and becoming Rodimus Prime if the rumors are true.
Though everything is up in the air right now, you might want to start preparing yourself for the rumored death. The script was written by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, the scribes who did production work on 'Ant-Man' and were the credited writers on 'Ant-Man and the Wasp'.
Apart from this, 'Bumblebee' is getting a spin-off, while another 'Transformers' film is expected to hit the screens in 2022. There is also an animated series on the cards, titled, 'Transformers: War For Cybertron'. "In this Transformers origin story, we will explore the expansive universe of Cybertron in a way that audiences have never seen before — to the delight of both existing fans and those coming to the franchise for the first time," Netflix's director of anime John Derderian said previously.
Veteran screenwriters Joby Harold ('Edge of Tomorrow') and 'James Vanderbilt' (The Amazing Spider-Man) have both penned separate scripts to take the Transformers movie universe in a new direction.
With regard to 'Bumblebee', there were hints at a Bumblebee and Optimus Prime team-up. Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura revealed: "We had many objectives (including) to bring a new set of families into the series, and that succeeded; in the after markets that will continue to succeed in a big way. Part of our obligation was to bring people back who had left the franchise or never experienced it, which worked well… We are finding our way. Our intention was we wanted to please the core fans but also bring a new audience."
Well, things look exciting in the Transformers universe, for now.