Paramount’s live-action Transformers movies have always portrayed the alien robots as battle-ready warriors, adept at navigating the world. However, the first trailer for director Josh Cooley’s upcoming animated prequel, Transformers One, reveals a different side of these iconic characters.

Plot and cast of Transformer One

Set in the distant past on the Cybertronian homeworld, Transformers One delves into the origins of two iconic figures: Orion Pax, who will eventually become Optimus Prime (voiced by Chris Hemsworth), and D-16, who transforms into the blood-eyed villain Megatron (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry).

Their journey from best friends to arch-nemesis unfolds against the backdrop of a world where transformation abilities are still untamed.

The surface of Cybertron remains a mysterious and perilous place, strictly off-limits to young transformers. However, Orion and D-16 find more freedom below the planet’s crust. Here, they and other young bots—unable to shift into alt-forms—work to contribute to their society. Despite their assigned tasks, Orion, D-16, and fellow Cybertronians like Elita-1 (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) and B-127 (Bumblebee, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) manage to sneak away and engage in the kind of ‘trouble’ typical of rebellious teens.

What does ‘trouble’ mean here?

Venturing to the forbidden surface, the transformers faced mechanized animals, what appeared to be organic plant life.

Their most surprising encounter is with Alpha Trion (voiced by Laurence Fishburne), which turns their life. Suddenly, they can transform their bodies into vehicles that don’t seem entirely alien.

The trailer for Transformers One movie is aimed squarely at a younger audience.

While Optimus Prime and Megatron’s early years have been explored in animated series and comic books, Transformers One offers a fresh take on their shared origin story.

According to longtime Transformers movie series producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, the film promises a scope as massive as the planet-eating villain Unicron. “You could not make this movie live-action, ” the producer quoted to Plygon last year.

“If we did it in live-action it would cost twice what we normally would spend on a big Transformers movie.”

Transformers One is set to hit big screens on September 20th.

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