I don't mind double characters either, but if I was the filmmakers and had the choice of reviving a character to be in the sequel or make a brand new one that looks exactly like the original, why wouldn't I just bring back the original?

Blackout was awesome in TF1. Why would you transfer that awesome-ness onto a clone character when you could just bring back the real deal?

 

Like some else said, the only reason I see for it is the fact that the character design and CGI costs are lower. It's not a perfect solution, but it might be the only one they had to maintain the expenditures inside the budget....

 

Grinder has a new much better looking head, good grief Blackouts previous head looked like a shriveled up turd.

 

The Grindor/Blackout problem is probably similar to the Brawl/Devastator name problem. The Hasbro people probably thought the movie will team up Grindor with the old Scorponok. The movie people probably found a way to resurrect the old Blackout name. I agree that there is no need to introduce a clone Grindor and it is less confusing to just bring back the old guy Blackout. In TF1, the movie people never did budge on their Devastator name for Brawl. The Grindor name can bring up images of a coffee bean grinder rather than an evil helicopter. My guess is for Hasbro, it is easier to sell Grindor toys rather than make people buy Blackout toys again.
I looked over the list of movie toys we know of so far and all we are getting are Fast Action Battlers Grindor and Voyager Grindor. There is no Blackout toy so far and maybe never. We already know of new toys of the dead Brawl and Barricade so the absence of Blackout is very strange.

 

there is a new RH blackout toy  

 

I really don't see what's so special about Blackout that he'd get that treatment when Brawl, Barricade, Scorponok, etc. all don't. What's wrong with Blackout that his toys get renamed, if he's a character in the movie? It makes no sense.

Also, Nemesis Prime/Scourge. People like that guy.

 

I dont understand what's all the big fuss when you already have 3 Transformers toys that share the same alt-mode. The V-22 Osprey.

Ruination
Springer
Dammit I forgot the other 'Con's name...

 

I'm fairly certain that Blackout is still dead, and that Grindor is a similar-looking Decepticon who shows up on Earth.

As for their similar appearances, nobody seemed to mind back in the day when there were three main Decepticon jets running around, looking exactly the same (aside from their paintjobs), so why is there such a fuss about clone characters now?

 

No its Blackout, Grindor is in the game.

 

The artist formerly known as Blackout.  

Unless he's named in the movie, I'll always consider him to be Blackout.

 

sorry, but Grindor is no movie character. remember Evac? just a toy/game-character, I'm surely.

 

 

I'd prefer that they didn't bring Blackout back to life. Megatron is enough. Resurrecting too many characters lessens the impact of death. There's no point in fighting if you can't win because your opponent can just be brought back to life.

 

Maybe the Blackout in the ROTF movie is really Blackout Junior.

I do see in the trailer a guy with long propeller blades on his back and short propeller blades in his right hand. Optimus slashes Blackout before Optimus is thrown into the ground. It does look like Blackout and it would be confusing to the viewers if it is somebody else named Grindor who has almost the same colors and appearance. G1 and the current animated show has jets with the same form but they were different colors to avoid confusion.

Maybe Hasbro invented Grindor thinking that Blackout is not in ROTF or maybe Hasbro thought the movie was going to use a grey and black guy named Grindor. Jazz was not being resurrected so they created the deluxe Smokescreen instead.

 

This is from Sol Fury's post on 05/29/09 at Botcon when they had a Q&A with the ROTF writers:

So I guess we will have to wait and see what comes out of it.

 

It is possible that both Grindor and Blackout are in the movie. Maybe it is lookalike or twin Grindor who supplies the parts to revive Blackout. Somebody had already updated the wikipedia ROTF to list both Grindor and Blackout in the Decepticons list.

 

Grindor and Scorponok, an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter and his scorpion-like minion. After Lennox killed Blackout in the first film, Scorponok hid in the desert, repaired his tail, and is now teaming up with a new character who is virtually a clone of his previous partner.[91]
Blackout. Despite having beeen killed in the first movie and not being mentioned in any of the printed adaptations of the movie, the writers have suggested Blackout to be back.[110] (Wikipedia.org)


This better be a mistake.  

 

That is Wikipedia. Do not go by that.

 

It was me who wrote that in Wikipedia and yes, it was said by Orci & Kurtzman.
To everyone saying 'meh, anyone can edit Wikipedia, so don't believe it', you should try going and editing an active article (ie, one that is currently being viewed by other people) and adding in anything that is not backed by a reliable source, and seeing how long it lasts.  
I give you six hours tops.

 

phew! I'm sure your right, since wikipedia is being edited all the time by anyone, besides since these names are out ( Grindor,Scavenger) may it's because they are exclusively for the game.

 

 

You're not getting it.
ORCI & KURTZMAN SAID BOTH BLACKOUT AND GRINDOR ARE IN THE MOVIE.
Read Q&A here (scroll down).