I have a huge suspicion they will.

Agreed, though didn't pretty much every "named" robot have a closeup over the course of ROTF and DOTM? I really liked his design and his Corvette alt mode is to die for. And I liked the five man set-up of him and the four carry-overs from the first film.

 

I am NOT OK with this, mostly because of "Dino" who was (I guess) the alleged homage to Mirage (for some inexplicable reason).

A Generation 1 fan, I am still OK with a lot of the "Bay-Verse" because my dream of seeing a live action TF movie series has actually been realized and is so successful it's on-going.

*That being said, we NEVER really need to see Rodimus Prime unless he's completely reimagined (alt-mode) and Optimus' "death" is very meaningful (OP is my all-time favorite character).

But I like the idea of a PACIFIST Autobot who serves in an espionage capacity with cloaking technology (essentially G1 Mirage). I'm a war hawk myself, but pacifist views are interesting and occasionally worth exploring. That's why Mirage, who would sometimes have to fight in G1, was an interesting character.

If Dino is to be Mirage, the character needs a greater role in the cast. Drift and (the other post-G1 Autobot they're mentioning as being in this one) mean nothing to me really. The writers could make the characters cool I'm sure, but besides Prime and Bumblebee, they've really written little to make many of the Autobots interesting. They just show glimmers of personality (where SideSwipe fits into this discussion per the original question posted).

SideSwipe was some kind of gladiator bot. If you include Sunstreaker, he's the "younger" brother that sort of wants to live up to his 'pure champion stuff' polished (literally) brother Sunstreaker. This was an interesting dynamic. As SideSwipe's already been written for the movies, he could be a self-impressed show-off as he's always comparing himself to Sunstreaker (not yet established in the movies) and internalizing this.

Now, say Sunstreaker came into the movies and was KILLED?! (yeah). Then SideSwipe (the brother I'd have live) would learn humility from the experience and maybe be later killed, but setting an example for Hot Rod (another of the same type of character) who is not listening to what Kup is trying to teach him (just like in the G1 cartoon movie).

I'm a writer and yeah, this melodrama stuff plays to making a plot "deeper." There's still plenty of robots transforming and shooting each other in car chases with explosions around this. But we don't necessarily need to see Mark Wahlberg's daughter and boyfriend going through puberty right after Sam Witwicky had a 3 movie expose on the subject matter.

I understand the human actors are there for the general audiences more to relate. But now that they're adding Grimlock (who I am uncomfortable with myself as being in the Bay-Verse - since a dinosaur is not a disguise alt-mode ....so I'm hoping he's a Beast-Machine or something that helps explain it), they are going to lose general audiences who might appreciate "The Butler" or a Jason Bourne movie more.

Therefore, include Grimlock? Then include more robot character development** and get back to "Dino" (if he is Mirage) and SideSwipe's character - especially using SideSwipe to embellish Hot Rod's introduction.

That'd be cool.

Any thoughts on my suggestions?

 

I feel the same. I would have loved to see them together... it would've made me seriously happy! Now I'm just bummed. 

 

I can deal with this as long as they explain why in the film.

 

Who??? Dino???....there was a red Ferrari...OH! That red car in DOTM. Yeah who cares, he didn't do much at all.

And Sideswipe, he looked good in ROTF. But lame in DOTM. Did any of you notice that in DOTM during the freeway chase, Sideswipe is a hardtop!

 

What happened to starting over?

We've seen a lot of signs that more central characters than you'd expect will be returning, and probably not looking that much more different than they did transitioning from rotf to dotm.

Time will tell, but I'm getting the sense things aren't being changed up as much as we were led to believe. (Which is fine)

 

So let's see...

Mirage and Sideswipe (and more than likely...wheelie) have now joined Skids, Mudflap, Chromia and Jolt in the ranks of many other Transformers (such as Barricade) who have disappeared from the movies without a trace with no explanation.

Grats Bay for continuing to show us all just how much you give a shit about your own TF Universe.  

 

Dino... It sounds ridiculous, but I think half of his reason to not reappear is due to Dinobots. Dino. Dinobots.

 

I liked Dino more than Sideswipe :/ ..... pity

again it was purely for design reasons... not like he had purpose... or added to the plot...

 

Maybe Nelson is just trolling. But yes, Im too kinda sad to see Sideswipe go, he was pretty cool. I probably wont miss Dino, seeing how he was only in DOTM. However, I definately enjoyed him.

 

Wheelie died in DOTM with Brains on the Decepticon ship.

 

 . I'm kinda upset about this. I loved both of them and hoped they would return.

Well, not nearly as upset as Ironhide not returning because of what they did to him.
  Ironhide

 

Heh, considering how many characters just up and disappeared with no explanation whatsoever ala G1, not to mention the equally G1-esque "oh hey, look, new characters just showed up" new appearances of several characters, I'd be more surprised if Dino & Sideswipe did appear. That kind of consistency would make entirely too much sense, so obviously it's not going to happen.

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I at least want Sideswipe back!!! If this is true then in my book that's strike number one...Sideswipe was a good character, he had more going for him than Dino did. I mean I know we're getting new guys but...why Bay why!  

 

They're all just throwaway characters for cannon fodder it seems anyways. *sigh*

 

Its not like Dino did anything other then be the guy who didn't get a toy so people complain about him. Other then telling a human to stay down, I can't remember him doing anything.

Sideswipe had a few cool scenes but really wasn't integral to the plot that he needs to be in 4. I never really liked his roller skate feet.

 

*pouts* Sideswipe is my favourite character besides Optimus. This just downright gives me a reason to probably not watch AOE. Why do you think I had his awesome quote from DOTM on my profile? Looks like he really did escape with his dignity in tact. There better be a fucking explanation for this, Nelson.

 

What's the difference? They were nobodies who did nothing, and will be replaced by new nobodies who do nothing. And no, there will not be an explanation. That takes thought or care.

 

There probably will be an explanation, I imagine the first ten to fifteen minutes of the film will be explaining what has been going on the last three years, where's Sam and Carly, what the Autobots are doing now, etc.

 

Yeah I bet you can add Ratchet to this list too. Anyone expecting to find out what happened to them will probably end up disappointed.

Bay just doesn't seem to care about that kind of stuff.