If you were in charge of revamping the transformers franchise what would the storyline be and which characters would you use?
Infiltration would be perfect for live action, with a few slight tweaks it would be the perfect introduction to a live action tf series imo.
A story that hasn't been used before in the brand, featuring a mixture of characters that has never been done before.
Introducing Megatron like how he was in Infiltration, plus some small world building scenes to show the greater war at large without overwhelming the audience would be amazing.
Exactly, scenes like these or the chase with ratchet and thundercracker would be instantly iconic in live action imo.
A few years back I would have said a G1 movie, but at this point I actually think it would be fun to do something more challenging and out-there. I'd love to reinterpret the designs and world and lore and all...to me that would be funner than just making a faithful G1 movie. I think I'd make the designs look more sci-fi and futuristic, maybe more alien and "droid-like" (although not overly "partsy" like Bay's). Lots of non-bipedal body-types. I'd probably streamline the lore and put a stronger emphasis on the technologial sci-fi aspects of the Cybertronians over the fantasy stuff. I'd probably keep the main several iconic characters as the main players. Maybe just OP, Bee, Megs, and Soundwave. Maybe Jazz and a couple others too (depending on who's needed for the story). But I'd probably use a lot of new faces and obscure/lesser-used characters (like Scalpel or Dispensor or Fixit...characters no one would ever expect to return). Human characters would probably be new, although I might use Fowler as a government agent, if the story called for one. I'd definitely include a Pretender, because I feel like that's a huge untapped source of story potential (and a great way to save on budget by having a Transformer who could just be played by a human 80% of the time...but could still talk about Transformer lore and whatnot). I might use the Pretender as the Decepticon equivalent of a human sidekick, I've always wanted to see that. Not exactly sure what story I'd tell. I'd definitely do something with an emphasis on disguise and espionage, with a lot of undercover missions and infiltrating secret bases and all that. Every character would use their alternate mode for the purpose of disguise at least once throughout the course of the film. I think I'd skip any sort of "befriending humans" story, and just start at a point where the human sidekicks are already part of the team, because that story has been told so many times at this point. I'd also skip any sort of origin story where they land on Earth and all, because that has also been done so many times. All that stuff could be explained in dialog or in brief flashbacks. At this point I'm convinced that Cybertron is actually much cooler when it's used very sparingly. I'd try to preserve some mystery around it and only give the audience brief glimpses...let their imagination do the work. If I took the story off Earth, I'd probably explore some long-lost Cybertronian colony (where Transformers mingle with other alien species). I'll throw in a few pictures to help give an idea of the visual style I'd go with... I'd probably make the designs look something like these. Even the Autobots, although less sinister and with a bit more expression. Maybe a bit of Transtech thrown in. I think I'd eliminate mouths entirely (aside from creatures like Ravage, where it's more of a weapon) and make them express through voice, camera angles, and some facial movements. I think it would be cool to have Optimus be red and black. I'm sure some will say that's sacrilege, but if they can do it with Spider-Man in FFH, I can do it with Optimus, dang it! Although I would probably give him some dark blue on his helmet (and maybe a couple other spots in robot mode), just to help preserve the iconic look. I'd make him a pretty average truck. I've never seen Optimus as the sort of guy who cares about appearance beyond probably just wanting to look presentable. I take problem with the idea of Optimus being some sort of custom flame-covered racing truck or anything else too flashy. I actually really like the look of the average semi you'd see on the interstate...I think they look powerful and inspiring without needing a lot of modifications. I think the sheer simplicity and bluntness is far more powerful than anything fancy or showy. Just throw a Mixmaster-style grill-guard and bigger smokestacks on this truck and I think it would make a great Prime. I'd keep Bay's idea of the trailer as a mobile weapons platform. Although...although it could be cool to make him a modern Argosy. Well, I'll just go with both since my movie would have the characters change alt-modes several times. Oh...and I'd make sure those dual rear wheels actually get incorporated into the robot mode. That always drives me crazy. I'd have Bumblebee adopt both of these alternate modes. The Camaro because I've always wanted to see him in his AOE evasion mode, but with his classic colors. The Golf because I've always wanted to see Bumblebee as a four-door car, so his rear doors could be used as another set of wings (plus, it would be nice to keep him in the VW family, and as a compact car). I'd have Megatron turn into a fairly standard tank, but with his Fusion Cannon replacing the tank's regular barrel (I'd make the fusion cannon really high-tech with glowing lights and stuff, so there would be a cool visual contrast between the Earth tech and alien tech merged together). Soundwave would probably turn into a car or van, and the stereo would look like his G1 alternate mode as a fun nod. Maybe a radio station van, or something? I feel like his alternate mode would be dictated by the plot. Random detail, but I've always thought it would be neat to have the Autobots fly around in a stolen Decepticon fighter ship, as their Falcon-esque "hero ship". A bunch of the movies have a chase with these things, so I'd just give them one to keep instead of having them steal a new one each time. Although maybe a bigger variant, so it could comfortably hold a whole crew of Autobots and humans. I'd have them custom paint it to distinguish it from the villain ships, maybe with a creature face on the side (it could be fun to have a Ravage face or something). And yes, I would use this CGI model in a reboot, because it's just a cool-looking ship. Another random detail, but I think it would be fun to have a human character who wears some sort of Boba Fett-esque armor, with all sorts of cool gadgets and weapons and whatnot. Something that would actually make people want to buy an action figure of a human character. Except the armor would be made from scavenged/discarded parts of destroyed/damaged Transformers (there could be some easter eggs thrown in, like a Seeker wing as part of the chestplate or Laserbeak's back cannon as a handheld gun or something). It could "transform" by rearranging itself into different configurations around the wearer for different tasks or fighting styles. I'd make it kind of janky and ill-fitting, so it wouldn't feel too much like Iron Man or too "superhero". Maybe it would become an Exosuit after enough parts get added to it.
I’ll have the main guys such as Optimus prime, bumblebee, starscream, megatron, arcee, soundwave, shockwave etc. I’ll have Optimus prime be a firetruck Have megatron be a tank Have starscream be voiced by mark hamill I’ll also add the wreckers, the dinobots, the DJD, unicron, galvatron and the quintessons. I’ll also make some decepticons sympathetic such as megatron, thundercracker, soundwave and make some of them irredeemably evil such as starscream, shockwave, skywarp, overlord and probably more.
I'd start with the surrender of the Autobots on Cybertron, brokered by Starscream and Sentinel Prime. This comes under protest by Orion Pax and a large group of Autobots. Starscream sets up the ceremony and brings Sentinel before Megatron. Megatron demands the Matrix of Leadership, only for Sentinel to reveal an empty chamber. In anger, Megatron kills Sentinel but not before witnessing a massive starship with an Autobot logo blasting off nearby. Megatron smacks Starscream and demands a ship to give chase. The Decepticons board the Nemesis and pursue the Autobots, of whom is revealed that Sentinel passed the Matrix to Orion to become Optimus Prime. The Decepticons catch up and board the Ark while damaging the warp core. Wheeljack jettisons the core, which creates a miniature black hole that tears a rift in space/time and flings the Ark and Nemesis into deep space. On the other side of the rift, The Ark and Nemesis collide and then crash onto pre-historic Earth. Fast forward to the present. Splunkers discover the Ark and accidently activate Teletran's defenses and repair systems. Strangely, though, only Autobots are left on the Ark - all the Decepticons are missing. The FBI eventually gets involved after disguised robotic planes have been found terrorizing power grids. Slowly, the plot unravels that a businessman, GB Blackrock, is building a trans-dimensional "space bridge" in orbit that will "reach the stars". The big reveal of Megatron is that he is disguised as the businessman's handgun and has been pulling the strings behind GB (who later realizes he's been duped and sides with the Autobots). Megatron has a small robot mode in this form...but the final battle has him integrate with his secret weapon: a fusion powered transforming tank that gives him his evergreen form.
If I were tasked with rebooting the live-action Transformers movies I'd definitely step away from the search for the Allspark story Hasbro has been going with lately. Instead I'd do a story where Megatron and his Decepticons have destroyed Cybertron in his conquest and the Autobots and Decepticons are warring throughout the universe for resources to repair Cybertron. The Allspark doesn't exist in this continuity and they arrive on modern-day Earth with no 80s nostalgia bait here. For designs I'd definitely go with new designs that lean more on the realistic alien Bayverse designs but arent G1 inspired either. Since it's set in modern times I'd have a mix of classic cars like Dropkick, Evasion Bee, and Shatter. Along with more pedestrian work vehicles like these: Chevy Silverado A towtruck like 2007 Longarm and a heavy duty towtruck like TLK Onslaught. And not to mention exotic super cars. For characters I'd go with a few of the usual characters Optimus, Bumblebee, Soundwave, Megatron, and Starscrem. Then introduce some characters that haven't had a lot of media representation so they can have their media spotlight like Huffer, Wheeljack, Skywarp, and Thundercracker to name a few. To make things fresh and interesting I'd also introduce new characters to add to the Transformers mythos. Most importantly this franchise would focus on the Transformers and develop them as characters instead of giving the humans most of the screen time.
I gave this a huge "like" for amazing creativity! I absolutely loved the detailed description. And it shows if you were in charge you have good ideas. Something new is cool. Kudos @TheSoundwave
I appreciate that! I ended up staying up until midnight typing that up, because I just got invested in throwing out fun ideas I've thought of over the years. I probably made it way too long, but I didn't want to delete anything because I had already spent a fair amount of time typing it up. Glad someone read it!
If I did a movie, I would probably take heavy inspiration from the Simon Furman IDW run. I will try to make it more of a loose adaptation though, instead of just translating the story. I want to scale back the roster for the movie. 4 Autobots vs. 4 Decepticons. The Autobots will include Optimus, Bumblebee, Wheeljack and Jazz. Optimus is the leader, Bumblebee serves as the character who connects to the humans, Wheeljack is the inventor/medic, and Jazz serves as a close friend to Optimus and well versed in alien culture. The Decepticons include Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream and Blitzwing. Megatron the main baddie, Soundwave (plus Ravage and Laserbeak) as the blackmailer and communication expert, Starscream as the egotistical second-in-command, and Blitzwing showing the Decepticons have an advantage over the Autobots. I think a smaller cast is better to not overcrowd the plot. Design wise, I think the Bumblebee approach is the safest to go. Being their own thing, while retaining what made them iconic in G1. The Transformers in this universe, are established as being on earth for a long time. There will be some buildup to their reveal, but unlike the 2007 movie, the TFs appear much earlier on and the cast are established immediately. It was Megatron who came to earth in the first place, he wants to exploit ore-13, which in the opening in the film, it's established Megatron sent warheads to several planets, earth being one of them. The plot is simple and straight to the point. I don't think it should be over-compilcated. The military aren't involved, mainly cause the Transformers are still in hiding. I'm not the best writer or director, but I think this is the best way to go.
Hopefully more than one person did it really is creative forces at it's best. I think a little more G1 thrown on top of what you got (meaning chunkier but same style bots) might work for the next reboot. Quick question though. We're those bots drawn and designed by you? Or pull them out a series of art? Just curious
I do think a bit more G1 mixed in would be good. My ideal designs would be a cross between these and the G1 designs. Bay's designs looked alien by using a lot of parts and organically shaped details (some almost look more like cyborgs or Bionicles than traditional robots, especially stuff like the Protoforms). Mine would look alien by being more droidlike and utilitarian (more like '70s sci-fi robots). Those were early concept designs for the Decepticons in Bumblebee. The Fairlane design at the bottom (which I actually meant to remove since I had several other examples, but forgot because I was tired) is fanart I found a few years back. I think the artist was turning some of his favorite cars (or maybe his personal cars) into Transformers. I've always thought it was a unique style. I do want to do my own designs at some point, but I always put if off because drawing Transformers is really hard. Especially since the designs I'm imagining are fairly technical and don't have a lot of frills or decorative parts like the official designs often have (and those tend to be the easiest to draw, since you can just cheat). Essentially every part on my designs would either be vehicle kibble or serve some sort of functional purpose (like joints, pistons, motors, etc). The fact that I don't have much knowledge of mechanical engineering is a bit intimidating to me. I'll probably do it at some point though, I just need to devote some time to studying this stuff. I also want to get more proficient at digital painting so I can make them look fairly realistic.
AUTOBOTS DECEPTICONS And a whole messload of these guys... The battlefield: Magna Umbra, Colorado - an ore mining town that has been financially strapped ever since its uranium mines were closed due to public health concerns. The human protagonist: The poor mining conditions were what led to the deaths of the parents of 17-year-old Patrick Dillon, an ordinarily-decent kid whose teen years have so far not been great ones - aside from his parents' deaths, he's had to take over for his disabled grandfather as a breadwinner for himself and his grandparents; his job consists of working at a slightly-shady auto repair shop whose slightly-shady owner has slightly-shady ideas on how to compensate his employees; the growing chip on his shoulder has led to a bit of an unpleasant habit of telling his more prickly high school instructors where they can go when push almost literally comes to shove - and that's when the jocks aren't goading him into throwing punches; and on top of that his girlfriend, Molly Thompson, happens to be the daughter of the local sheriff, and you can probably readily imagine just what THAT guy thinks of him just on the basis of the kid's high school and employment records even before factoring in said romantic relationship. Patrick's life, in short, SUCKS. Which makes what happens to him in the 24 hours following the night a ludicrously-violent lightning storm sweeps through the town either a bad thing or a good thing, depending on your point of view... Overall: Something that has that "different and familiar at the same time" vibe to it...and that isn't just another installment of "The Optimus & Bumblebee Show! With Megatron! Also Starring Starscream!" crossing over into an episode of "Drunk Ancient Aliens History". There'd definitely be some retro vibes to it, though, even if the movie wouldn't itself be necessarily set in the '80s...you'll notice my main human character has all the requisite qualities/backstory details of your archetypal '80s-movie teen-rebel hero; plus there'd be a number of '80s movies I grew up with contributing various plot points, such as the small Colorado town besieged by an invading army ("Red Dawn") and the alien invaders coming to Earth using a lightning storm as their cover ("Invaders From Mars", both the remake and original) - basically, invoking the familiar in unconventional ways. In terms of tone, I'd lean a little less toward John Hughes and a little more toward John Carpenter; in essence, this is what I'd be aiming for: There might be some slight gore during moments where it's discovered just what the Sweeps have done to certain human characters, but nothing really beyond Vintage Spielberg or Lucas levels - basically, if the kids can sit through Ponda Baba's severed arm or the Liquid Nazi Spectacular that caps "Raiders" they'd be able to handle this. Maybe a few more swear words here and there, too. The need for familiar-yet-different is also kind of why I'd go with Orion Pax and Galvatron rather than Optimus Prime and Megatron - though in Galvatron's case he'd probably have more in common personality-wise with BW Megatron than G1 Megatron; as it is, my take on Orion Pax would be basically just Animated Optimus with his pre-Prime G1 name and a pickup truck alt-mode. Hell, I'd almost be tempted to cast David Kaye to voice BOTH parts. I'd probably also be tempted to bring back as many of the surviving voice actors for their parts (Kevin Michael Richardson as Bulkhead, Constance Zimmer as Strongarm, etc.) as possible, as another way of nodding to those branches of the TF brand BEYOND just G1 - thus why the Autobots would be a mix of characters introduced in post-G1/BW cartoons/toylines (I admit having Downshift might be cheating a little bit since he's practically Wheeljack with a different name, but only because I'd have otherwise put Crosswise in his role, and again I'd want to get away from the fancy imports which in this case would make even less sense given the setting). Just have Nizzi or Zavala or whoever give the above robot designs "Bumblebee"-influenced styling and detailing, but beyond that little to no influence from or connection to the existing films.
There are multiple ways you can have a most Shrekcellent reboot. I'd rather have something out there and totally bizarre than something safe, simple, and nostalgic. For one, you could go the patriarchy vs. matriarchy movie in a Jaegertron movie with Matriarch Supreme as the Ovarylord of the Womxn's Justice Division. You could also go the Shrekformers route. I would have it so the Quintessons built the Transformers in their interstellar war with the ogres, but that it was Shrek who gave life to the Transformers by sneaking the Allspark into the Quintessons' robot factorites on Cybertron in a last ditch effort to sabotage the Quintesson war machine. You could go Beast Wars, but the problem with Beast Wars is that you're unlikely to please its fans. Consequently, rather than going full-on Beast Wars, I would do a Bird Wars. The idea is that Cybertron is blown up into many pieces as a result of the Autobot-Decepticon war, and the only surviving Transformers are beast-like Transformers that lack the abilities of more "sophisticated" robots, like interstellar flight. In order to find enough to survive, the survivors need to experiment with new means of flight that parallel the development of flight in maniraptoran dinosaurs and birds. The main cast would include the most advanced, efficient, and sophisticated of these fliers, with Hot Robin being the main protagonist. There would also be side characters who would resemble earlier birds and their relatives: Archaeopteryx, Microraptorinae, scanscoriopterygids, and the like.
Okay, don't say I didn't warn you... (WARNING: G1 "haters" advised not to read any further You'll just hate it.) Spoiler I would use the original storyline set in 1984 (time period piece), and just skip the entire thing about sparks, Primus, Unicron, "female" anything (Autobot/Decepticon), "biomechanical" anything, etc. I would do the Transformers as straight-up electronic life forms, with the Decepticons not regarding/ caring about organic life and the Autobots struggling to recognize the frailties/ limitations of humans.The Transformers would be limited in their ability to understand 1984 Earth and need whatever human allies they encounter to help them comprehend it, with the Decepticons abducting humans (think Dr. Arkeville) and the Autobots befriending Sparkplug and his son Spike. Their origins would be shrouded in the distant past, with Cybertron orbiting Alpha Centauri. Their reason for departing was to clear debris that was threatening to rain down on Cybertron, which was too energon-poor to put up any defense shield or mount a laser barrage to destroy them. The events of them crash-landing on earth would largely be as the comic/cartoon depicted, with them remaining deactivated for 4 million years. Concerning the way the first story would play out, we would see very little of them in the first half-hour (were this a feature film). It should be a tremendous reveal (and only under duress) that any of the Autobots transform at all: Decepticons: Play the Decepticon attacks as "unknown incidents", that the authorities do not want becoming known due to concern of an all-out panic breaking out among the public. The attacks should be lightning fast, brutal, and with precision (as per the Decepticons' militaristic nature). Make Starscream a bit smarter in voicing his dissent (knowing that Megatron would destroy him should he err), choosing to bide his time until a good opportunity arises. Make the Decepticons' attacks strategic, productive and frighteningly accurate in how they plan to drain the Earth's resources. Make Megatron's forces competent, obedient, but with minds of their own. Skywarp should have at least some basic competency in combat, even though he's not that bright. Thundercracker, as unsure as he may be, should simply dedicate himself to his task as assigned by Megatron. Soundwave should remain in the background, but the "camera" should note that at moments, he's keeping a very keen eye on the others. Ravage would work best s "the boogeyman/cat" that menaces humans from the shadows, while Laserbeak/ Buzzsaw would serve to strike hard and fast without warning. Rumble and Frenzy would most likely be the first Transformers the Humans would encounter, and use them to demonstrate that even the cassette troopers are far stronger than a human (a possible scene would be a factory worker trying to drive Rumble off, only to have the encounter end poorly when Rumble breaks one of his limbs with a casual "grab". And keep Megatron's appearance for last. Portray Megatron as brutal, cunning and intelligent, with him being the last Decepticon anyone would ever want to see. Demonstrate his desire to complete his conquest, and the "ache to return home". Really play out his tech-specs in this case, and avoid making him a buffoon. He should not care whether the humans live or die, and even treat them as a "non-entity"; a human happening upon Megatron should not even register to him, unless they were directly in his way. Give Optimus and his Autobots real concern about even being able to hinder them, let alone stop them. Autobots: The Autobots should be a bit more inquisitive about Earth, but at the same time, let's keep some limitations on them (and the Transformers in general). As electronic beings, they should have a hard time comprehending organic life and how different they are from themselves. Pain, emotions and physical needs such as food should come as a surprise to them; while they are not stupid, the Autobots should be on something of a learning curve. Human language should take them a little bit to pick up, with some terms having to be explained to them by the humans. Some of the Autobots (i.e. Sunstreaker, Gears) should express their unhappiness about being on Earth, while others (like Hound) would show appreciation for the natural beauty and difference from Cybertron. Optimus Prime: DO NOT LET HIM RIP OFF ANYONE'S FACE!!! Seriously though, Optimus should be more of the commander with a limited crew; in fact, a good way to have the entire cast without it becoming bogged down is to only have a handful of Autobots re-activated, with the rest still in need of repairs (limited energy due to crash damage to the Ark/ Teletraan-1). This would also allow other characters to be "brought online" should any of the initial characters be damaged ("a lack of parts" / "too energy intensive, easier to bring another online"). Optimus would really have to balance trying to stop the Decepticons with trying to save the humans, and face some very difficult choices in their fight against them. Optimus' reveal would be (like Megatron) the last one you should see, only this time, for the Autobots. Keep his persona as the tech-spec depicts, and add a bit of the cartoon and Marvel comic versions in. Designs: I would like to see more of the Travis Knight versions, but perhaps geared more towards the G1 Cartoon aesthetic.Make them look like they are mostly vehicle, with their robot modes appearing unearthly in a machine-like way. Have their anthropomorphism as vague, with no "pupils" (eyes should be lenses, not bio-mechanical, take a note from the original back of the box G1 painting), limbs not being perfectly-scaled (too long, thing, etc)... ...Make it 80's weird in a BIG way.
No more reboots... they kill a franchise. Move forward after TLK in a new direction. Or just do G1 in live action. Then it’s not a reboot just a new movie series.
