While it certainly doesn't have anywhere near the cultural cachet of Marvel or Star Wars, the live-action Transformers franchise has been plugging along for more than 15 years, printing money for Paramount. This year, we're getting the seventh such movie, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

　　It's not the first time this series has delved into Beast Wars territory--Transformers: Age of Extinction featured a subplot involving Dinobots--but this will be the first proper dedicated live-action Beast Wars movie. So I hope you're ready to see some very large robot animals beating the crap out of each other, because that's what you're gonna get from Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

　　

When is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts coming out?

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts releases in theaters on June 9, 2023.

　　

We got a trailer?

　　Oh yeah, right here. Oh, and here's a Super Bowl spot for good measure. They're light on plot, but we get some great looks at that robot eye candy. And Optimus Primal (that robot gorilla) offers a tantalizing warning that may just indicate that this movie will end up being much weirder than it appears: "Of all the threats from both your past and future, you've never faced anything like this." Is he hinting at time travel? Maybe.

　　

What is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts about?

In the Beast Wars CGI animated TV series, the Beast Transformers were "upgrades" from the standard Autobots and Decepticons and lived hundreds of years after them, but here, all the different Transformer types are around at the same time. If they keep that origin, then time travel will likely be in play--hardly out of the question when you consider that line from the trailer mentioned above and a comment from the director that referred to the Beasts as "prehistoric animals that travel through time and space." And, hey, it's Transformers. Anything and everything is always on the table in this endearingly ridiculous franchise.

　　The trailer wasn't extremely illuminating about the specifics of the plot, but there are a few things we know. First, this is a sequel to Bumblebee, and it takes place in the mid-1990s--well before the events of the first Michael Bay Transformers movie. In addition to the Maximals, which are the Autobot beasts, we'll meet two factions of animal Decepticons: the Predacons, which are the normal beast baddies, and the Terrorcons, a group of five particularly vile bad guys who can join together to form the massive Abominus. It could be that Abominus is the unprecedented threat that Optimus Primal warns Prime about in the trailer. But the leader of the Terrorcons in this film is an original Transformer named Scourge, so it's more likely that they'll have something brand new up their metaphorical sleeves.

　　It's still unclear whether these post-Michael Bay Transformers movies will make any attempt to align with (or retcon) the timeline of the original five movies. But if they do, then these Beast Transformers should have their origin in the distant past rather than the far future--the Dinobots from Age of Extinction had been around since the time of the actual dinosaurs. But I wouldn't expect its narrative to be tightly connected with any past film.

　　

Which Transformers can we expect to see in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?

As you probably could have expected, we're going to meet a ton of different robot folks in Rise of the Beasts. As mentioned previously, we've got both Optimus Prime (voiced, as always, by Peter Cullen) and Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) leading the two Autobot factions.

　　And on top of them, we've also got: Mirage (Pete Davidson), who judging by the trailer appears to be the primary "friend of the main human character" Transformer in this movie instead of Bumblebee. There's also Scourge (Peter Dinklage), an original character who leads the Terrorcons in this movie. Airazor (Michelle Yeoh) is a robot who turns into a falcon. And we've obviously got Bumblebee, who once again doesn't speak even though he got his voice back in the last movie. You can also expect Arcee, Wheeljack, Rhinox, Battletrap, and plenty more.

　　

Who directed Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?

The film was directed by Steven Caple Jr., best known previously for helming Creed II. The film has five credited screenwriters, none of whom have previously been involved with the Transformers property. One of those writers, Joby Harold, is credited with writing three episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

　　

Who are the human stars of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?

The two human leads are played by In the Heights star Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback of Judas and the Black Messiah.

　　

Is anyone from Bumblebee returning?

Despite being a sequel to Bumblebee, it doesn't appear that any human members of the cast of that film will appear. But this isn't all that shocking for this series--Michael Bay's fourth Transformers movie, Age of Extinction, was likewise a direct sequel that returned no human cast members from the previous movie. As much of a bummer it is that Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena are apparently sitting Rise of the Beasts out, the robots really are the stars here.

　　Phil Owen on Google+