Does anyone remember that when Simon Furman was brought on at the verrrrrry beginning of IDW, he wanted to resolve the hanging Dreamwave storylines with a multiversal, multi-time story that would end the UT and tie it into G1? Just was wondering if anyone would like to see that as a mini from the new publisher. I thought I was over multiverses after Loki & Dr Strange, but Everything Everywhere All At Once kinda took me back to liking those stories. And at this point we've got a ridiculous number of divergent TF timelines.
No. In all likelihood we're just about to get a new licensor, so we will probably have a new universe and continuity. Instead of trying to manage everything before, i want it to do its own thing. Multiversal narratives of existing properties are ironically very limiting, because I'm many ways they're bound to characters and concepts that came before, and have different narrative meaning for an audience based on its level of familiarity.
I think it could be fun as a little mini-series at some point (like the old Spider-men returning in No Way Home). Just a little pop in from another universe for some light fun. Like if the Lost Light had met up with dudes from another universe for a 2-issue adventure (I'm actually surprised that Roberts never did that sci-fi show trope when he did so many others) I don't think it'd be a good starting point for a major ongoing universe though and I also don't think getting a small role in a mini-series decades later will be enough for people who wanted a "full" continuation of the previous stuff. Better to make something fresh that will appeal to anyone just starting, and also not tread on the toes of the old stuff. Sadly, part of this is just me wanting to avoid the terrible discourse around a lot of modern sequels/prequels... Unless it's something like Furman himself coming back to make RG1, it's better to just move along. And even then, sometimes you just can't catch lightning in a bottle twice.
The original pitch was nicknamed “Crisis on Infinite Cybertrons” and would have ended with the birth of the IDW continuity. I remember that..
This needs to be delivered on. Granted they can keep all the old Timelines $4!7 locked in the Shroud and pretend it never happened, what I'd like to see most is for the post-S3 universe-hopping Lost Light to essentially replace the Axiom Nexus as the Transformers' multiversal sinkhole. Characters rooming with alternate universe versions of themselves, Whirl getting another daughter, that kind of madness. Either way, if the interdimensional hub concept is brought back, they could really show off the ridiculous amount of alternate characters Transformers has while ironically not tying the series to any one continuity at a time. Each of the 2008 TransTech stories essentially began the exact same way as Loki (2021) too, so we kind of already have a successful formula for breaking in new readers/viewers if we just repeat that original story format. (Also, is it just me, or is Miss Minutes kinda based on Flareup?)
I would quite like a Transformers storyline similar to Marvel’s Exiles. a group of Transformers would travel throughout the multiverse and participating in the events of existing universes. The idea is to not break past storylines but rather fix them. Character disappeared for no reason? Now there’s a reason. Character completely out of place? Now their inclusion is justified or retconned. An original storyline didn’t make sense? Now it makes sense. I wouldn’t have such a story to just do it’s own thing. I don’t want the team to travel to universes loosely similar to an existing universe but isn’t actually that original universe. I want the original universe to be left in tact once the team leaves, although the reader would have a different understanding towards the original story than they did before. So for example, Cliffjumper disappears completely from the original Marvel comics for no reason; his final appearance being US#41. Where did he go? What happened to him? Make him one of the team members. And yes, it would be clearly shown that it is the actual Marvel Cliffjumper.
This could be interesting, but it definitely has the potential to undermine or otherwise, uh, fuck up other stories.
I'm of two minds of such a thing. I think launching the new continuity that way would have been an AWFUL idea, even if it would have appealed to the continuity weirdo that lives within me, so I'm glad that did not come to pass in 2007. As a mini somewhere down the line after a new series is established from the new publisher...? I suppose so, but it seems like that would be something for a niche of a niche. Still, right now, multiversal whatnot seems to be hot, so sure, why not.
I don't remember the pitch ever being officially called that. I do remember the Botcon Q&A where that came up because I was the one asking about such a crossover, and I said "something like a Crisis on Infinite Cybertrons?" as a part of my question. IDW and FunPub agree with you, that's the response I got when I asked FunPub about them doing a massive crisis crossover story in 2007/8. They answered for IDW as well. I've since tried to sketch up a story that'd cross over a bunch of continuities. The scale of such a story is utterly overwhelming, so little wonder we rarely see anything. James Roberts actually said at TFNation in 2019 (I think) that he'd intended a story where the Lost Light crew jumped into the original Marvel UK continuity during Target: 2006. It never happened because there was a mandate to wrap up the old continuity for the relaunch, I think. And this was what the Lost Light / Marvel G1 crossover would have done. It would have explained why Omega Supreme was unavailable during Target: 2006 (Rewind drained his Energon, apparently).
I don't know if that would've been cool or not. Would you happen to have a link to the panel? I'd love to learn more about this.
I really hate multiverse stories. They're almost always gimmick plots and more often than not become needlessly complicated and stray too far from any tangible emotional core. It becomes less about character dynamics and narrative structure and more about high-concept events, cameos, and references. You can cross over any series you want, have different names and faces show up, but if I don't care about the people on the pages it's all meaningless. Hell, we arguably still haven't gotten a great normal Transformers story with a traditional setting and dynamic cast. So many TF comics rely on a gimmick they forget to make the moment-to-moment events compelling. I hope whatever series comes next just starts simple and works its way up. Events, crossovers, and gimmick stories are the reward for a good ongoing story, not the basis.
I didn't personally record it, and I'm not aware of it being online. He didn't say much - basically it was an explanation of why Omega Supreme wasn't used in Target: 2006. There were a few other unused ideas discussed like an alternative origin for Quickswitch (Autobot Phase Sixer).
