Transformers One: Everything We Know About the Animated Transformers Movie
Some origin stories are more than meets the eye.
The robots in disguise are primed for a new origin story. Paramount Pictures rolled out the new Transformers One trailer with a global launch in space, revealing an action-packed look at the first-ever fully CG-animated Transformers movie — and the franchise's first wholly animated installment since the original The Transformers: The Movie in 1986. Set on the planet Cybertron, the prequel unites worker bots Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry), brothers in arms who will eventually transform into Optimus Prime and Megatron: rival leaders of the Autobots and Decepticons.
'Til all are one, here's everything we know about the movie before Transformers One opens in theaters September 20.
What is Transformers One about?
Transformers One is the untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever. While working waste management in the bowels of Cybertron, Orion and D-16 meet workers B-127, a.k.a. Bumblebee, and Ariel, a.k.a. Elita-1, before embarking on a dangerous journey to the planet's surface world.
"I'm so excited and proud to be working with Hasbro and eOne to bring the first animated Transformers movie in almost 40 years to theaters for a never-before-told story," Ramsey Naito, president of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, said when introducing the animated prequel at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. "I'm honored to have such incredible talents come together to portray these well-known and much-loved characters in an origin story at the heart of the franchise."
Who is in the Transformers One cast?
Those talents include Chris Hemsworth (Marvel's Thor movies) as Orion Pax / Optimus Prime, Brian Tyree Henry (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) as D-16 / Megatron, Scarlett Johansson (the Avengers franchise) as Elita-1, Keegan-Michael Key (Toy Story 4) as B-127 / Bumblebee, Jon Hamm (Mad Men) as the Autobot leader Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne (the Matrix series) as the ancient Autobot Alpha Trion — sworn protector of Vector Sigma, the mega-computer at the heart of Cybertron — who unlocks the Transformers' full potential, giving the 'bots the ability to transform.
Behind the animated adventure is Paramount Animation (the upcoming The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants and Aang: The Last Airbender) with animation by Industrial Light & Magic (Wall-E, Ultraman: Rising). Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who has produced every live-action Transformers movie from 2007's Michael Bay-directed Transformers up through Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and the announced Transformers / G.I. Joe crossover movie, produces via his Di Vonaventura Pictures.
Bay is on board as producer with Tom DeSanto (Bumblebee), Don Murphy (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts), Mark Vahradian (Transformers: Dark of the Moon), and Aaron Dem (Wonder Park). Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) directs from a screenplay by Andrew Barrer (Ant-Man and the Wasp), Gabriel Ferrari (No Exit), and Steve Desmond (Knock at the Cabin).
Why isn't Peter Cullen voicing Optimus Prime in Transformers One?
Because Transformers One is a prequel about a young Orion Pax, the future Autobot leader isn't yet the Peter Cullen-voiced Optimus Prime more familiar to audiences of the original Transformers animated series and the live-action movies.
"When we first listen to Chris Hemsworth's voice, you're like, 'God, is he gonna be a good Optimus!' Obviously, he starts as Orion Pax and [he doesn't] become Optimus for a while. So he's not playing, for most of the movie, what we think of as Optimus, Peter Cullen," Di Bonaventura explained in a 2023 interview. "So it's that transition, and Chris's voice has a timbre that… it's logical that Peter Cullen would take over that voice, if you would, which is really great, the fans are gonna really feel great."
Is Transformers One canon with the live-action Transformers movies, or is the prequel its own story?
"The answer is yes to all of the above," director Josh Cooley told ComicBook. "Hasbro gave me this bible of the entire history of Transformers, which is, as you probably know, massive. And I was like, 'Wow, I did not know it went this deep.' It was like this Tolkien-esque scale.
"There's obviously different variations of it," Cooley continued, referring to the cartoons, comic books, and film series. "So we did our take on the origin, which is still staying true to the lore of Transformers. But it's also something we've never seen before on screen. So I wouldn't say that this is a direct prequel to anything that's been done with live-action ones, but it's definitely its own story as well."
Will there be a Transformers Two?
Transformers One is the first in a potential animated Transformers trilogy about friends-turned-enemies Optimus Prime and Megatron — and what sparks the war between the Autobots and Decepticons that eventually spills over from Cybertron to Earth. Unlike the live-action movies, Transformers One is set entirely in space on the techno-planet Cybertron.
"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," di Bonaventura said. "We're hoping that there is enough emotional construct to that, that would lead to a trilogy of it 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. So, 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."
Are there Transformers One toys?
Before Transformers the animated series, there was Transformers the toy line. ComicBook exclusively revealed the first wave of Transformers One toys, which features the Transformers Studio Series Deluxe Class Optimus Prime action figure inspired by the animated movie, the Optimus Prime (Orion Pax) 2-in-1 Converting Mask, and a line of Transformers One MEGA CHANGER figures that convert from robot to alt mode.
Transformers One is in theaters September 20.
