As Trailbraker said, "It sure beats walking"

 

Not if his reasoning is explained.

 

It could be that the transformation into a jet would allow Megatron better maneuverability/overall mobility and possibly greater firepower. Movie Megatron has been described as arrogant, possibly "extremely arrogant". It may be that Megs resents anything Earth-based and simply prefers to let his minions do all the dirty work for him and only ever surfaces when there's a massive battle.

All the same, I've got mixed feelings about Megatron being a jet. My initial reaction was that it's a bad decision (stealing Starscream's glory as the supreme air fighter), but some comments in this thread have swayed my opinion somewhat. If the jetmode is armed with a Big Freakin' Gun and is more along the "portable destruction" type, then it could be sweet.

I hope it's true that he's black though. As long as he's not purple (that always reminds me of G1 Galvatron and I hate G1 Galvatron) and as long as his robot mode has a large and cool looking gun (not that crappy dildo thing that Galvatron had) mounted on his right arm.

The thing is that Prime is a large truck, which means he can squash stuff with ease. Ironhide is a small truck and while definitely powerful compared to a regular car, he's nothing compared to the Prime, BUT he is likely more maneuverable than Optimus due to his smaller size.

If Megatron's jet form is to be done right without jeopardizing Screamer's usefulness, then he should be slower, but much more powerful than Starscream's F-22.

 

You know, there are reasons he's useful entirely apart from his alt mode. His personality means he's going to act differently in battle than Prime would. He has special weapons and skills that Prime doesn't have. He can do things that need to be done when Prime isn't available to do them. He has unique experiences and insights as a war veteran. The list could go on.

You could give Starscream and Megatron the exact same alt mode (although I would never recommend it) and Starscream would still act, think, and fight differently than Megatron would, giving him value to the Decepticon forces regardless of comparative airspeed and firepower. I suggest watching the Galaxy Force series, in which Star Scream and Megatron are both fast, powerful Cybertronian jets, and examining their relationship and comparative effectiveness as fighters and leaders.

 

And I totally agree Flamepanther.

Personally, I'd be crushed if Megs WASN'T a jet. Think of it, it's fast, agile, powerful, it just fits him. A tank is slow (in comparison to a jet) and, although armoured, vulnerable to air attacks. Plus I just love ENG Megatron.

What I would love to see is: Megatron swoops down, at maximum velocity, in jet mode, transforms, and clothes-lines prime into the ground, setting the scene for a huge fight! Awsome.

 

dude, weak. ironhide's schtick is his old guy routine.

meanwhile, starscream's schtick is annoying, treacherous guy. the fact that he is the best flyer makes it more convincing for megs to keep a tool like that around.

 

As Joe Moore said on the first page of this topic, what plays an important role in any movie is characterization. So, Tank, Jet, Cannon, Gun...whatever...the only important thing is looking at that guy, see the way it acts and behaves, in order to say "It's the same evil son of a b*tch, definetily that's Megatron!"

 

Because Hasbro is criminally ravishing your childhood.

 

That's a good idea for a really cool fight, but if he has a big amount of fire power and great agility in the air...why would he transforms to fight on the ground?

If he were a powerful jet, he could blast his enemies FROM the air, without having to transform to fight fist to fist.

 

 

For combat purpose's, if the battle field dosen't suit his jet mode very well.
Thats part of why they transform, in order to adapt to changing battle stategies. Besides, who says he has huge amounts of fire power? I'm sure he's armed but not covered in guns.

 

Ok, I was just imaginig that  

About the battle field, yeah, that's pretty logic, I didn't take that into account  

 

Don't forget the personal satisfaction Megatron would get from physicall beating up on Prime hand-to-hand. Remember the 1986 movie, when he reaches for his fusuon cannon, but changes his mind and shouts "I'll crush you with my bare hands!"? He'd totally do the same thing as a jet. Plus, it makes for a great fight scene whether it makes perfect sense or not. This is still a Hollywood summer action movie after all  

To those still worried about Starscream, I'm serious, go watch Galaxy Force up through Starscream's betrayal of Megatron and then get back to me.

 

touche'  

I hope it will be, and you guys have already come up with some good reasons (transportation/battle strategy). Because if they are transforming on Cybertron, its definitely not for disguise.

 

Has it been said that Megatron will be a fighter jet though? He could be a bomber.
Thay can still be fast and manoeuverable but of course pack a much bigger punch than a fighter.
Then Starscream can still be the fighter jock while Megatron rains death from above over everything

 

Megatron is a cybertronian jet. He's not a fighter or a bomber.

 

Equivalent of. It seems pretty likely that Cybertronians would have (or become, rather) specialized aircraft for both functions.

 

A pair like G2 Dreadwing and Smokescreen or RID Dreadwind and Smokejumper. Now that would be cool.

 

You raise a good point.

 

Or the unreleased ATB Starscream and Megatron? Hmm... Makes you wonder.

 

Y'know, your post suddenly made me realize why exactly I'm somewhat uncomfortable about Megatron being a jet. Personality.

I've read plenty of posts on here (namely Bumblebee related) about how the alt-modes have a lot to do with the characters' personalities and mostly, I agree. I admit there are some transformers I care less about (Bumblebee being a Camaro doesn't phase me at all - I never digged Bee's VW altmode to begin with), but Megatron is pretty important to me.
I'm not going to bash the decision of making him into a Cybertronian jet, because (1) maybe that jet will turn out to be awesome and still give Megs a good "Megatron" feel to it and (2) Megatron's robot mode is by far the most important to me; if he looks like my idea of Megatron, then his alt mode matters less.

But I'm still gonna touch on how I'd ideally prefer Megs' alt mode at present: Low mobility, but collossal amount of firepower. That's Megs to me. G1 saw Megs as a gun, he was later a tank, which encompasses the same element of firepower (although a tank is pretty damn mobile), G1 Galvatron, who in essence is still Megatron, turned into an alien cannon. Later incarnations of Megatron I didn't really care for, because neither his robot modes, nor his alt modes seemed "Megatron" to me - it was simply a new villain with the same name, but with a different voice (which gave him a hint at a different personality - more arrogant, less brutish) and appearance.

The various incarnations of Optimus Prime have kept moderately faithful. Prime always had a blue helmet and a faceplate covering his lower mouth and he was (almost) always some sort of truck (RiD saw him as a firetruck). Megatron has shapeshifted entirely on the other hand and it annoys me endlessly. To me, G1 Megs was about as important as Prime, or at least his robot mode was.

And returning to the usefulness of Starscream and whatnot, I'm perfectly clear about the character still being useful despite the possibility of Megs being as good or even better an air fighter, but I'm thinking usefulness as a weapon. Versatility is always better than more of the same. Of course, judging by what info we have, Starscream is just about the only Decepticon that's a fighter jet in the movie, so that softens me a bit (in G1 Starscream had his cronies Skywarp and Thundercracker).