“Beast Wars” Crew Makes Their Live-Action Debut in First Trailer for “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”

To the excitement of many a fan who grew up in the late 90s, the first trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has introduced the fan-favorite crew of Beast Wars to the world of live-action – and surprisingly, they don’t look half-bad.

Noah (Anthony Ramos) discovers a unique feature of Wheeljack (Pete Davidson) in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

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Debuted to the public on December 1st, the trailer comes out of the gate swinging, its opening moments see not only the introduction of the long-anticipated Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman), but also his confrontation by his heroic namesake, Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen).

“Stand down” orders a weapons-ready Prime, mistakenly believing that his beastly opponent to be attacking the film’s human protagonists Noah (Anthony Ramos) and Elena (Dominique Fishback).

“I’m not the one to fear, Prime,” replies Primal, prompting the Cybertronian leader to lower his weapon. “There is a darkness coming.”

Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) comes face-to-face with Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

From there, the trailer moves to introduce some of Rise of the Beasts key players, including Bumblebee, who is interestingly shown sporting his Michael Bay-series Camaro look rather than appearing as the lore accurate Volkswagen Bug form he took in his solo film):

Bumblebee prepares for his next mission in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

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Mirage (Pete Davidson), the Autobots’ Porche 964-disguised stealth operative whose abilities include the power to create ‘phantom’ duplicates of himself:

Mirage (Pete Davidson) eludes the police in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

Cheetor, whose running alongside Bumblebee reveals that the Maximals’ animalistic alt forms will be comparable in size to modern automobiles:

Cheetor and Bumblebee race side-by-side in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

Airazor (Michelle Yeoh), a blast of energy radiating from her mouth as she attacks a bridge:

Airazor (Michelle Yeoh) unleashes her power in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

Arcee (Liza Koshy) and Wheeljack (Cristo Fernández), who are seen narrowly dodging a missle fired by Battletrap (David Sobolov):

Arcee (Liza Koshy) and Wheeljack (Cristo Fernández) dodge an attack from Battletrap (David Sobolov) in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

The Terrorcon leader Scourge (Peter Dinklage), Bumblebee caught in his clutches:

Scourge (Peter Dinklage) holds Bumblebee’s fate in his hands in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

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And last but not least Rhinox (David Sobolov on double duty), who closes out the character introductions with a mighty, energy-flaunting roar.

Rhinox roars triumphantly in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

“Of all the threats,” Primal is then heard continuing his warning to Prime, “from both your past and future, you’ve never faced anything like this.”

Proving himself every bit as resilient as his furry friend, Prime responds to this threat with three simple words: “Let them come.”

Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) refuses to back down in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

Cut to the trailer’s climax, wherein the combined forces of the Autobots and Maximals are shown throwing themselves into an all-out melee against the Terrorcon.

(In a particularly notable instance of source material accuracy, during this brawl, Primal can be seen combining two individual swords into one singular blade à la his original Gorilla-form figure.)

Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) comes to blows with Battletrap (David Sobolov) in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

Following the flashing of the film’s logo, the trailer ends on two brief stingers.

The first – previewing a moment ostensibly included in the script because Hollywood just cannot help themselves when it comes to tonally awful humor – sees a visibly freaked out Elena reassuring herself “This can’t be real”, only to receive an acknowledgement from Arcee, which prompts her to self-reply, “Okay, this is real.”

Arcee (Liza Koshy) gives a peace sign to Elena (Dominque Fishback) in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

In the second, Noah can be seen driving up to a spot in Mirage, only to  instead of stopping, keep walking as Mirage transforms into his robot form.

Noah (Anthony Ramos) and Mirage (Pete Davidson) prepare for what comes next in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

Directed by Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II) Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is set to role out into theaters on June 9th, 2023.

Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) delivers a warning in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Paramount Pictures via YouTube

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