I'm really curious where this will go. As far as we know, megatron, soundwave, and arachnid are alive. But what about optimus? Will they just bring him back to life or something? I don't doubt there will be new characters, but do you think they'll keep the same human kids only now adults?

It will still be a while until we here anything about this new series. What do you guys expect to happen for this series?

 

We don't know a lot about the show right now so we don't also know if it'll be a sequel to Prime or not yet as well.

 

If it's a sequel to Prime and they don't bring Optimus back, color me disinterested. However, if it is and they do bring him back, then that redeems Predacons Rising. If it's not a sequel to Prime, they better bring back Peter Cullen as Optimus, or again, you'd have to color me disinterested.

 

I really hope they make it it's own continuity if it has to be within their "aligned" or whatever. In other words it can be it's "own version" or if it's going to be a continuation then have it take place somewhere else with a whole new crew. Prime ended in a good way. Let it rest. No need to keep risking messing things up. Like bringing Prime back again? Come on...

 

As long as it's not a soft reboot like Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes and Avengers Assemble is. I think i'll be good.

I would so prefer a sequel for once.

 

Honestly, I'll be interested if they DON'T bring Optimus back. Let someone else be the leader for once. Rodimus or Bumblebee or somebot.

I'll also be pretty fine if Cullen doesn't come back. I kind of miss young, inexperience David Kaye Prime. Or maybe someone completely new as Prime.

 

To have a Prime, the Matrix is needed and its out of action. If he returns, it has to be as a reborn Orion Pax.

Personally, I rather him remain gone to have his sacrifice be more meaningful. Optimus Prime is nothing but a crutch for the others to rely on. With him now out of the way, we could have more characters showing the ability to lead.

 

I've never given a toss for any prime but Cullen's Optimus, but different strokes. My issue is that Mr. Cullen will not live forever, I want him to voice as many iterations as possible. You'll have an eternity of "young, inexperienced" Optimuses after he is gone someday. In the meantime, let's use what we got while we sill have it.

 

My question is, what's left for TFPrime? The main villain and hero are in exile or dead, respectively, Cybertron's restored, the Decepticons are dismantled, and there hasn't been enough world-building or cast expansion to have any real twists, save Airachnid's army, and really, who needs her?

 

Well we can explore Cybertron during the peace era and deal with Cybertronians who are having a tough time dealing with it or some renegade decepticons who refuse to go along with the peace as well as Bumblebee learning how to be leader like in RID from IDW Then we can have the humans who are a part of Unite-E help them out with any other threats. We can have a group like the Star Seekers be the villians.

 

That'd probably be the same smashing success it was in 1986.

 

Yeah, but I might not be alive for that. I'm not gonna live forever either!  

No malice to you, just in general, I've never really liked that mentality to a voice actor and their character. True, there some characters I really like, with voices I especially really like (Steve Bluum as Wolverine, Josh Keaton as Spider-man, Ron Pearlman as Sinestro), but I'm always open to change.

My belief is that, that character with that voice will always exist. So while its nice to have them voice as many versions of the same character, I'm always open to new stuff.

As an example, Mark Hamill as the Joker. Mark Hamill is an amazing Joker. Yes, that's true. Yes, he's great....But I respect him more for stopping, and am happy he did. I don't want to be beaten to death with Mark Hamill Joker. I want other Jokers!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you... John DiMaggio as THE JOKER! - YouTube

Look at John Dimaggio! He's great at this role! Maybe no Mark, but he's doing his own thing. Awesome.

Peter Cullen as Prime will always exist in G1, the Baymovies, and in Prime. Just like Chalk will be Primal, and the UT (though I can see that as not being an honor at times...). No one will ever take it away. He's right there. Want to listen? Go ahead, he's not going anywhere.

True, when you try something new, you can run into the problem of downgrading, but that's a risk you should be brave enough to take.

As another example, look at Megatron. True, RiD Megatron is...yeah. But look at Corey Burton! One of my favorite versions of him. David Kaye Megs? Also rad.

Heck, when Frank came back to do Megatron for Prime, I was relieved, and impressed, that he decided to update his voice for the Con. If someone comes back for a role, they should take a page from Mr. Welker and try a new spin, even if it subtle.

But all this is just me ranting (Not at you, just in general). I'm always a fan of originality and trying new things. Like you said, one day Peter will be dead as a doornail, and who will voice Prime (and Eeyore) then?

I'd rather we already have a list of candidates before he kicks the proverbial bucket, then after.

 

I'd like to see Kevin Conroy who voices Batman in the DCAU and many DC animated movies as well as the Arkham games do Optimus Prime. He has both the wisdom and grounded feel that should be with any Optimus.

 

That was then, this is now. G1 lacked the strong character development and stories to pull off a proper next generation leader. Two, Hasbro gave in to those that couldn't let go of a cartoon character.

These days there is more than one Transformer media going on that Optimus Prime can exist in. While at the same time, the tv series can go on moving forward with some kind of story universe timeline.

A sign of a great leader is if those under their command can still win without that leader. The era of the Primes is over in the story universe, time to see if the students can become the teachers.

 

That's right - getting hit in the bank account hurts when you kill off the best character in the franchise.

 

Jetty's got a point. Could you imagine if nothing changed between then and now?

We'd all look like this!



THE HORROR.

That's debatable. Heck, I don't even know if Prime is the most iconic at times. Lots of people still see Soundwave as more iconic.

Besides, lots of people just don't like Prime.

Not me, I like the guy. But Prime does run the risk of being boring and bland if they add nothing new.

 

I'm sure if you asked a fan of Soundwave, Megatron, Starscream, Prowl, Jazz, Bumblebee, Ironhide, or blank character, they would give a different response.

 

The problem is that

1. This is effectively the plot of the current RiD comic which will unquestionably have done this much better but cannot be so easily adapted since so much of it is political manuvering that it would not retain the interest of the target audience.

2. Lack of characters - the trouble with the Prime universe they set up is that for all intents and purposes, we are lead to believe the core cast of Prime is virtually all that is left of the Cybertronians which doesn't lead to a good setting. Sure you can have the reborn ones from the end of Predacons Rising or pull from the underground guys from the comic but the problem with the latter is that they don't like drawing the connections to the other fiction explicietly. The former is the better option and offers some possibilites but having a populted Cybertron woudl be ungodly expensive with how they have been animating the show so it would likely still feel oddly bleak - not to mention that the Prime team was never that good at world building in the first place.

 

1. Fair enough but it would be neat if there was at least some homage to it like Bumblebee being leader or co leader to Magnus for Cybertron.

2. Actually they said that Cybertronians have been scattered across the universe so there's a chance that we'll see more Cybertronians for the next show since it could take place years after Predacons Rising. As for the animation I think that after the Prime team saying that CGI is pretty expensive to use,they may resort to using 2D or at least some form of 2D styled art so it won't be as expensive.

 

Sadly 2D shows aren't as easy a sell to children nowadays, there are exceptions and many adults will look past it (look at the following for Adventure time, Regular show and Korra) but most studios prefer CG nowadays because its generally more profitable (Tangled's box office vs Princess and the Frog).

I was saying with the way they were moving with Prime that they could effectively do a split like IDW did - have Bumblebee run Cybertron while Smokescreen (who is A LOT like Rodimus) takes the misfits away since they feel unwanted. This works precisely like IDW's current comics and what did it such wonders.

The fact is, and I am loath to admit this because I love both characters, that Optimus Prime and Megatron hold Transformers back from a narrative perspective. The two characters are the epitomy of what their factions represent and their eternal conflict so much so that their roles in the war define them as characters. Remove them and you force the other characters to step up and act in a scenario that they are not familiar with with no command structure.

The trouble is that I don't think Hasbro wants to go away from the proven TV formula and that effectively puts a stronglehold on what can be done with the story - especially in lieu of the movies. Many consider some of the best Transformer shows to be Animated and Beast Wars - and those two are certainly the two that most deviated from the general formula (despite both having an Optimus and a Megatron in their own rights).

The sad thing is however, I just don't trust the Prime writers to go this route even if they were given the freedom to do so. Prime at its best was still a generic action cartoon. It was good guys vs bad guys again and again followed by MacGuffins - the overall narrative never deviated from this. Beast Wars at least had the overarching mystery of the planet and Megatron's actual endgame. Animated had autobots more integrating into society and trying to understand human culture while the Decepticons worked larger goals in the shadows. Prime's Megatron however had no greater plan than "crush autobots" and Optimus's crew had no other goals than "must stop Megatron" - it's this generic writing that doesn't give me a lot of faith in them to write a story that is compelling or that would take any risks.