So many whining little brats on here. It isn\'t name slapping you morons. It\'s not like I could even explain the process because unless it\'s not G1 it doesn\'t count. Roll on the next 35 years when hopefully technology becomes too advanced for the more... \'wiser\' fans.

 

G1 scourge was barely a character, so tbh, I’m down for them taking far more inspiration form his other incarnations. Idk why people are reacting to this like it’s as bad as hotrod or onslaught form tlk. Like those were nameslaps. This ain’t one.

 

New versions/interpretations =/= devaluing existing characters

You can't erase the feeling you get from media by ingesting new forms of it but vying so effervescently to recapture it by any means will always lead to disappointment because your memories of the original will never be replaced by the new one and can never give that sense of wonder you felt when you first experienced it. You only create new memories so let them be new experiences.

 

Personally, I've never been bothered by the 'name slap' or 'not true to source material' isues in the way that some fans have.

My take is that - with them being Transformers, who since the live action movies started, have been shown to have the ability to scan and take the form of any object/machine/vehicle, then it only makes sense that they'll continue to adapt and disguise themselves by constantly adopting different alternate forms over time. So as long as it befits the situation or storyline, I'd have no problem with Optimus Prime being a gun or Starscream being a car.

Even the word 'transform' itself is defined as 'making a marked change in the form, nature, or appearance of'. But that's just me.

Not saying that those who prefer that things stay true to Transformers lore are wrong. Not all all. Just saying that there's more than one way to look at things.

 

The guy in DOTM is Dino, not Mirage. He's called Dino in dialogue. His Studio Series toy is called Dino. The general audiences you're concerned about have never heard that guy called Mirage. Only "hardcore fans" still think of him as Mirage, for reasons I honestly don't understand.

 

Because he was Mirage until Ferrari threw a hissy fit over it and insisted he be named something else.

Both are acceptable but acting like fans just call him that "because" is as factually incorrect as nameslapper's argument.

I swear some people pick the weirdest, factually incorrect hills to die on then dig their graves deeper as they do.

 

I guess Nightbird will look something like this car, but in purple:

 

Lots of this discussion is pretty toxic, and I don\'t really understand why. If you constantly reinvent characters or use the same name for two wildly different interpretations of a character, you create confusion for newer fans that might want to go back into the 35+ years of other TF properties. Creating confusion is how you annoy potential fans, and not that we are the end all be all, but you create pointless fights like happen here all because they were too lazy to make up a new name for a new character. 

Buuuutttt, that\'s not really what this is, at least not in the BB Blitzwing-way or 2007 Devastator. Scourge has already been this truck thing before, the time to get mad about that change has long passed. This movie seems to simply take inspiration from that version of the character which is more-or-less what the anti-name-slappers want. Personally, as long as he isn\'t part of the Terrorcon combiner, they\'ve made no new or controversial changes here and I can accept it in the name of compromise. 

Comparisons to other properties are fair, and this brand hasn\'t lasted 35 years by constantly changing character names willy-nilly. The people dismissing those pointing out the need for some form of \"branding unity\" are just silly. Prime is Prime, Megs, Shockwave, Soundwave, and countless other characters have stood like a statue to anchor the world we play in. The only logical reasons to take a character we know as A and reimagine them in significant ways and still call them A are to protect the Trademark (100% business) or prey on general familiarity with the original name. Calling people babies for accusing Hasbro of being lazy when those are the facts doesn\'t make you edgy, it makes you a head-in-the-sand Ostrich. Previous bad choices don\'t absolve new choices of their stupidity. We live in a post-MCU laying down the formula for how to create a quality filmverse paired with a full-on multimedia/merchandising assault world, and we\'re on the cusp of a fully-integrated Star Wars universe that includes a physical place you can visit to literally step into it... If TF is going to last another 35 years, something we all want, we are going to have to play by the new rules, or at least stop making the same mistakes that left this brand struggling post-BW and before-Bay. Everybody love everybody. 

 

They could have as Mattel had exclusivity on Ferrari toys not film rights otherwise they would have never been part of the film to begin with, they just chose to name change Mirage to further the association between Hasbro and themselves.

 

I'm just saying, his name is officially Dino. Why persist in calling him by an incorrect name, and associating him with an incorrect identity? He's not Mirage. It was just a placeholder name like they do in the movies all the time. There's a thread going right now where people are asking if ROTB Mirage is just a placeholder name too.

 

I read his wiki page, they call him Mirage all over the place. Rather unfortunate. But as someone who didn't consume any of the tie-in merchandise, there's never been any conflict for me. He's Dino. Mirage is a completely different guy.

 

The notion of the general audience being confused by characters reusing names is nonsense. The general audience isn't even going to remember a throwaway character from a Bayverse movie that didn't even use that name.

 

Nameslapping is one of those words that gets really overused in this fandom. Nameslapping is something like DOTM Devcon, who has absolutely nothing to do with the original Devcon. This version of Scourge is taking inspiration from several past versions of Scourge, meaning he's objectively not a nameslap. We don't know yet whether or not he'll be a good interpretation of those versions, but he's definitely more than a nameslap.

The RID2001 version of Scourge was a nameslap (he had nothing to do with G1 Scourge), so if nameslapping is inherently a bad thing that character wouldn't even exist. Which leads me to my second point...I don't think nameslapping is always a bad thing. It can be, but it can also lead to cool new fan favorites.

I think about it this way...on Earth, there's more than one person named John. Why can't there be multiple Transformers with the same name too? Especially since Transformer names seem to be more akin to military callsigns/nicknames that they earn based on personality/visual traits, rather than birth names. With thousands of Transformers spread across the galaxy (and across the multiverse), wouldn't it make sense that the same names would pop up now and again?

I honestly think we as a fandom need to retire the phrase "nameslap", because it's almost become meaningless. At this point it pretty much just means "I don't like this interpretation of the character". ROTB Mirage isn't a nameslap. Movieverse Ironhide isn't. Ratchet isn't. Soundwave isn't. These might not be the most faithful versions of the characters (and you don't have to like them), but they all have something in common with past versions of the characters.

 

Do they even have to have commonalities with their previous namesake though? Different characters can have the same name. There’s not just one Steven or Barbara on the planet, why should it be any different on Cybertron?

 

Wow those are some sweet looking trucks. Can't wait to see more of them! What's that third one in the back?

 

That orange gmc is gonna make an awesome bad guy.

Scourge looks very good and heavily inspired by the RiD character. I'm still not sure how the "goatee of fire" will look, but they nailed it as far as alt mode is concerned.

These trucks look very on theme with optimus and his bullbar; and they will look great chasing a 4x4 Camaro.

The 70s mercury comet and '68 Camaro spotted on set also look promising even if they are just regular cars and not transformers.

I really like that they are expanding the robot cast over the BB movie's 4 actual characters. We can expect some good action I am sure

 

Any more pics of the GMC Tow Truck?

 

I feel like in a fictional universe it's far better for each character to be individually identifiable. I have two roommates with the same first name, and I've resorted to using their last names when talking to them. It might be realistic, but it's confusing and a fictional universe doesn't have to be.

 

…But he’s different from classic Scourge because it’s not trying to adapt the G1 version. It’s clearly inspired by Robots in Disguise Scourge. If we we want to assume the worst, I’m wrong and we get essentially a brand new character that is only a loose adaptation of Scourge from RiD and that’s it. But why is that a bad thing? Why would there need to be a story explanation as to why RotB Scourge is different from his G1 counterpart if he’s from an entirely different continuity?

Again, I don’t see what is so hard to understand about there being different versions and interpretations of a character, even if you are a casual fan or moviegoer. When people first saw Heath Ledger’s Joker, I doubt that the first thing that came to mind was, “Why isn’t he Cesar Romero? This is too confusing.” and was more akin to, “This is an amazing and fresh interpretation of Joker.”

There is nothing indicating that RotB Scourge IS a name slap, and whether or not it is is irrelevant because people are going to be calling him “Scourge from Rise of the Beasts” regardless. You are going off of the assumption that he doesn’t look or act his G1 counterpart when all we’ve got to go off of is an obscured picture of his truck grill.

Animated Prowl isn’t an entirely different character. He’s an adaptation of the original that simultaneously did its own thing, like what RotB Scourge might do. You can see both in his design and occupation as a police vehicle that he is Prowl, but of course his characterization and story is distinct. It wouldn’t have been appropriate to name him something entirely different. Then it would be confusing as to why he isn’t just called Prowl.

 

Scourge is gonna be rad. I'm really curious who the orange truck is gonna be? Ironhide? Huffer? Grapple? some new oc?