What I meant is that the Marvel comic just cut right to chase and had Megatron fatally wound Optimus, rather than delay it like what happened in the movie.

And I think it makes more sense that way. That actually Makes Optimus' death truly unpreventable.

Interesting analysis. Since you used screenshots, I'll do the same. That'll be toward the bottom, and I hope it'll give you a better idea of where I'm coming from, and why I think differently.

I'm not saying Optimus didn't know he was in danger. He obviously knew how dangerous Megatron is. I'm saying he didn't know that he was just seconds away from being shot. That's why I said immediate danger. If I'm correct and Optimus didn't see the gun until Megatron raised it up to shoot him, how would he supposed to know about it? Unless Optimus had Superman's X-Ray Vision, I don't see how he would see the gun with it being behind a bunch of debris and out of his view.

I got no words there.

There's another thing to consider, what would stop Megatron from throwing Hot Rod in front of himself and using the Autobot as a human Cybertronian shield? Marksmanship will not matter when your target throws a living shield in front of your line of fire, especially one of your own comrades.

That's pretty much one reason why I think Optimus didn't know about the gun until Megatron shot him, therefore not knowing the immediate danger he was in. If he was aware of the gun, yeah, he could've, would've shot Megatron while Hot Rod had Megatron distracted. Why would he not shoot Megatron before Hot Rod tackled him? Before he rushed into battle, Optimus said Megatron had to be stopped no matter the cost, so stopping Megatron would be priority #1, and just standing around until Megatron had Hot Rod as leverage goes against that mindset.

Spoiler: My analysis using screenshots

I base my assumptions of Optimus' POV on these two screenshots. Based on these screenshots, the gun would be obstructed from his view. I don't think the gun wouldn't come into his view until later.


The tricky thing about this scene though, is that the shape of the debris changes between frames, and it doesn't make it any easier to analyze.


And during the brief scuffle between Hot Rod and Megatron, this is roughly the area I assume Optimus would have to aim, and if the two of them are moving, it's going to take the most precise shot to hit Megatron and not Hot Rod. My assumption is that if Optimus tried shooting Megatron here, there's a chance he could've got him, but there's also the chance he could've ended up shooting Hot Rod in either one of his arms, one of his shoulders, or even in the head.


I think it wouldn't be until this frame (on the video I took these screenshots from, roughly around 2:33) that the gun would finally come into Optimus' view. If Hot Rod wasn't present, this would be roughly within the time frame where I think it would depend on which leader has the quickest reaction time and who is quicker on the trigger. With Hot Rod there, Optimus would have to hope Megatron doesn't just shove Hot Rod directly into his line of fire.


And then we get to here, the point where Megatron fires. With Hot Rod there, the same risk from before still applies.


Green = disarm
Yellow = wound, but not necessarily kill. Would increase likelihood that Megatron drops the gun, but I doubt that he would, which is why I think green and red would be more likely
Red = kill (head and spark chamber)

In the end, this scene is very difficult to analyze. It becomes even more difficult to process if @Max Rawhide is correct and the gun did briefly come into Optimus' view. If he's right and it did, what would Optimus' reason for not shooting be? I said that the reason later would be that Megatron would've used Hot Rod as a Cybertronian shield, but before Hot Rod tackled Megatron, I don't really see a reason why Optimus couldn't shoot Megatron while Hot Rod had the Decepticon distracted. Unless he didn't see the gun until Megatron was shooting him with it.

What I hope will be my final statement on this, is that I do think the Marvel comic's version of Optimus Prime getting fatally shot by Megatron made more sense than it did in the movie. Without his gun in hand, and Megatron swiftly bringing the gun out to shoot him, there'd be no way Optimus could defend himself, therefore making his death truly unpreventable.

That's really all I got. I'm not sure how else I can explain it.

 

The only one who needed forgiveness was Optimus for giving Magnus the matrix to begin with.  

 

and what I was trying to get to is, that’s a cop out

From the moment Megatron started his plea ...the slow crawl forward, Optimus should have known better

I don’t mean he had to know ur was a gun but he had to know Megatron was planning something and that his life was indeed in immediate danger

your close but no cigar

Megatron lifted it to about his chest just moments before Hotrod actully tacked him

Optimus would have to see it

There’s no real reason to consider that possibility since Optimus was provided with the perfect chance to prevent that from happening and failed to do so

When Hotrod yelled “no you don’t Megatron” he diverted all of Megatrons attention away from Optimus, Megatron fully turned his head and shoulders completely around to see where that voice was coming from

It was the perfect opportunity for Optimus to take his shot, tge gun Megatron had was fully in view at the time as well

 

That's a very good point - while Hot Rod could have angled his arm guns down, not taking that risk is actually a smart idea, given that Optimus would have been the backstop for any missed shots. That's why in any crossfire, you never want two shooters on direct opposite sides of the target - you want them off-center. Hot Rod would have been better to come in from the side, allowing both him and Optimus to light Megatron up.

 

Well Hot Rod was able to hit Starcream while he was standing in the shuttle all the way from the ground.

I feel like shooting Megatron pointblank wouldn't have been that big of an issue, especially with how big of a target Megatron is and at the angle they were the worse Hot Rod could do was maybe hit Prime in the leg, resulting in a "gah! Aim better" from him.



Then again that would have resulted in Prime living, and since the entire point was to kill him since his toy didn't sell enough that couldn't happen. If anything the point should be how in the world Prime succumbed to his injuries considering he suffered far worse than a few jabs to his 1 side (ignoring the out of universe answer of 80's cartoon writing).

 

The Marvel colors look kinda nice here.

 

Either way, keeping track of what's behind your target is one of the four cardinal rules of handling a firearm. But you're right, that would have resulted in Optimus living, and the powers that be couldn't have that. Even if they could have just scrapped the Magnus character, had Optimus be confined to a life-support armor that resembles Magnus's armor, and had Optimus in an advisory role to the new Prime.

 

@Nova Maximus Nice use of Marvel comics for these scenes  

Absolutely agreed. Although the Marvel adaption by neccesity of space is an abreviated telling of the story, this is the one thing I think is done better in the Marvel adaption: Optimus can't see the gun because Megatron's body obscures it from view, and the moment Megatron gets it Optimus can't shoot back since he's unarmed. Optimus dying makes perfect sense here.

I do think it makes clear that without Hot Rod present Megatron shoots Optimus immediately, while in the actual movie Hot Rod delays Megatron shooting Optimus. I've always been under the impression, but I don't know if this is correct in any way, that the Marvel adaption is based on an earlier script. While for the movie at a late time it was decided to add Hot Rod to this fight since Hot Rod is on a journey and guilt over Optimus his death would add to it -- which means that it was the authors' intent for Hot Rod to be guilty or at least feel guilty.

I'm not going to comment on the Hot Rod/Megatron struggle and whether or not Optimus could've done anything at that time. I don't think he could, because despite him being an excellent marksman there would be too much movement. However, Optimus could've shot Megatron after this struggle, since Megatron didn't really use Hot Rod as a shield (more to the side). More importantly is that Optimus could've (and should've) acted the moment Megatron got the gun and Hot Rod was still outside the frame and came running in from behind Megatron, thus not blocking Optimus his shot or distracting him.

You're right in stating the size of the rubble changes -- not just the rubble, some of the background as well. But ultimately, it doesn't matter. Because it never becomes so big that it can block Optimus his view. If you take the first screen shot you posted you see that Optimus has a clear view on Megatron's entire body and almost everything behind the rubble which barely reaches Megatron's wrist.


Then look at my screenshot of Megatron having picked up the gun. It's very clearly no longer underneath the rubble and very much in the open. If you compare angles then it's clear Optimus absolutely could see it. He could see Megatron's knees on the ground in your screenshot and in this second one the gun is almost at waist level.


There can be no doubt Optimus saw this gun at least a whole second before Hot Rod arrived, and didn't react. This despite having his finger on the trigger and his gun aimed: killing/shooting Megatron was a finger twitch.

Well, I do have a theory. I posted this before and it was clear that some absolutely hated this because of what it makes Optimus.

I see (Sunbow) Optimus as a very classic hero, a white hat, a bastion of morality and always making the right moral choice based on very strong principles. A hero in the purest way. the Ideal Hero. A character driven by a strong moral compas with unbendable principles, even at the expense of doing the smart thing. As his official bio states: He would be a more effective military commander if he were more ruthless, but then he wouldn't be Optimus Prime. If you look at characeristics of this white hat hero, then in a situation like this the white hat hero will only shoot in self defense.

This means that at this moment in the fight, Optimus was faced with an enormous dillema. He had stormed in claiming Megatron had to be stopped, no matter the cost. He had entered the battle, swiped away attacking Decepticons and faced Megatron who immediately attacked him. They had fought and then, after a brutal fight...Optimus had come out on top. Megatron was beaten and unable to continue the fight and Optimus had him at gunpoint.

But then what?

He couldn't just shoot him. That's against his principle. As he said in "Triple Take-over": they're not shooting at us, so we're not shooting at them. Likewise to how at the end of "Heavy Metal War" Megatron floats helplessly in the lava and Optimus claims that he's convinced Megatron will survive and return to cause further harm...and Optimus does nothing because it's not in his character to shoot a helpless/defenseless opponent. The same here. Megatron at this moment was no longer an immediate threat. Doesn't matter that he could/would become one again, it's the here and now that's important. Optimus does not shoot a defenseless, beaten opponent. Period.

So shooting Megatron isn't an option. But Optimus is all alone, injured, there's a battle going on around him. He can't take Megatron prisoner all by himself. There's too much of a risk there: Megatron might pull something or other Decepticons might come to his rescue or during a moment of weakness due to his injuries, Optimus could loose focus. Taking him prisoner is not an option and shooting him is against his principles.

And then Megatron starts pleading for mercy and Optimus knows something is up. He knows Megatron is going to betray him and attack again. And if that happens, the fight is renewed and Optimus can react: shooting Megatron then is in line with his principles. My interpretation is thus that Optimus completely realised that Megatron was going for a conceiled weapon. And Optimus allowed this so he, as the white hat hero he is, could then respond and shoot/kill in self defense. Because that's the only time a white hat hero shoots his opponent: in self defense to an attack.

(As a child I read western novels by a German author. A total of 83 exist, I have read 82. In almost all of these the hero faces outlaws who have committed many crimes, killed lots of people, but he always allows the bad guy first draw. Sometimes even taunting or insulting the bad guy to ensure he will draw his guns. Thus the hero always shoots in self defense while at the same time ensuring the bad guy won't just walk away.)

Interestingly, this does mean that Hot Rod did indeed interfere and as a result caused Optimus to die. Because it distracted Megatron from attacking Optimus and thus took away Optimus his validation of shooting Megatron. It also meant that if Kup and Hot Rod had arrived together slightly earlier, the three of them could've taken Megatron prisoner.

 

Man, I like this color edit, is there an edited version of Transformers the movie where everyone's color changed to their toys or comics colors?

 

Well given the direction he was coming from that really wasn’t possible

but missed the shuttle all together at least once (if not more times)

I’m sorry but the fact that he actually hit Starscream proves nothing more then a lucky shot, Besides he seem to be shooting pretty wildly I’m not surprise he hit one or more of the cons but it’s a completely different type of situation

Hot Rod was running as fast as he could
Megatron was Crouching and crawling cross the ground

It’s not easy to hit a moving target when you are moving yourself ,then there is the risk to what you’re trying to save

By the way I like what you did with the helmet helmet

 

This

 

Or maybe Something, ...but he forgave him anyway.

This. Entitlement makes interneters more hostile.

Probably Prime would have killed Megatron with 1 shot, even if Megs hit 1 shot on Prime.