Transformers One Finally Breaks A Movie Tradition For The First Time In 38 Years

Thanks to its new origin story for the franchise’s characters, Transformers One breaks a tradition for the series that goes back 38 years. By the time of Transformers One‘s ending, it became clear that the film was taking the franchise in a new direction. Although it includes iconic Transformers characters and locations, and even teases a Transformers One sequel that fits with the lore of the Autobots vs. Decepticons, the movie somewhat reinvents the series after decades of different movies across various franchises.

This is done primarily through the new origin story for Optimus Prime in Transformers One, which explores how he became the Autobot leader after humble beginnings as Orion Pax. This was undoubtedly a refreshing change after several movies that followed similar narrative and thematic structures in the live-action Transformers timeline. However, one of the standout ways in which Transformers One differentiated itself from movies of the past was by breaking a tradition that has been upheld, rightly or wrongly, for the last 38 years.

Transformers One Is Finally Only About The Robots

There Are No Humans In Transformers One

Custom Image by Dhruv Sharma.

The trend in question is the role of humans in Transformers movies. In every movie since 1986’s The Transformers: The Movie, the franchise has been content with implementing human characters into each and every story. The seven live-action Transformers movies since then have all contained human characters, to varying degrees of success, with some of these characters having worked and others falling frustratingly flat.

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While the Autobots may be the draw of the Transformers films, the movies are filled with human characters, but some are more interesting than others.

Regardless, it has been a long-running complaint that the Transformers movies have relied too heavily on human characters. The movies – or, more aptly, the studios – have been almost fearful of omitting humans due to fears that the titular robots alone could not carry a film. However, Transformers One proves these fears wrong by being the first movie in almost 40 years not to include humans in any capacity, focusing entirely on Optimus Prime, Megatron, and the other robots of Cybertron and receiving rave reviews as a result.

When Transformers One Is Set Explains No Human Characters

Transformers One’s Timeline Leaves Little Room For Humans

While it is not explicitly stated when Transformers One is set, the clues towards the film’s timeline provide reasoning as to why there are no human characters. Transformers One‘s timeline places it millions of years before most other movies in the franchise. As such, Optimus and the Autobots still reside on Cybertron and have not yet fled the dying planet to Earth.

While the plans for a
Transformers One
trilogy could see the robots eventually come to Earth, it is unlikely that humans will ever be a big focus in this animated section of the franchise…

This explains why there are no humans; not only is the film unconcerned with human characters, but Earth is not a home for the titular robots as yet. While the plans for a Transformers One trilogy could see the robots eventually come to Earth, it is unlikely that humans will ever be a big focus in this animated section of the franchise. Many would echo the sentiment that it is about time this became a reality, with Transformers One obliging by breaking 38 years of somewhat unwanted tradition.

Transformers One is an animated action-adventure movie that marks the first animated feature-length film for the series in decades. The film will be a prequel to the franchise, and will tell the story of Optimus Prime and Megatron in their early years, how they met, and a closer look at the war on their home planet, Cybertron.

Director

Josh Cooley

Release Date

September 20, 2024

Writers

Andrew Barrer , Steve Desmond , Gabriel Ferrari

Cast

Chris Hemsworth , Brian Tyree Henry , Scarlett Johansson , Keegan-Michael Key , Steve Buscemi , Laurence Fishburne , Jon Hamm , Vanessa Liguori , Jon Bailey , Jason Konopisos-Alvarez , Evan Michael Lee , James Remar , Isaac C. Singleton Jr. , Steve Blum , Jinny Chung , Josh Cooley , Dillon Bryan

Runtime

104 Minutes

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