By standalone character driven film I don't mean like Bumblebee. While I really enjoyed that movie, it was more about humans than Bumblebee himself. Maybe Bumblebee as a character just isn't a good fit to lead a movie, but now I'm wondering if there are any characters who would be.

Obviously, economic viability is a major element of Hollywood's movie making decisions, so a Transformers movie that isn't about the mascot character are probably nothing more than a pipe dream. Ignoring this, which characters would you like to see developed on screen, and which of their stories do you think would translate well to film?

 

Every time this comes up I explain why I think it would never work and then I say Nightbeat anyways.  

 

I think the Aerialbots are worth their own story and film.

 

I would agree with those saying an ensemble film works better for TFs, but that I said I have some ideas.

Jaegertron. He's manly and shredded, making him masculine eye candy in the sense of Mamoa's Aquaman. His arrogance and lack of awareness could make him amusing, and perhaps even relatable to some guys. He could be the extreme opposite of Matriarch Supreme, the leader of the Womxn's Justice Division, with both being extremes as to what a sentient being can be.

Lockdown. I think a neutral point of view could be interesting. You could make such a film the "Star Wars" film of the live action franchise, and due to his neutrality he could have Decepticons as antagonists.

Shrek. Bring back both the Shrek movies and boost Transformers. Farquaad as a shapeshifting Quintesson with a Napoleon complex who lusts after alien princesses, sending the Knights of Cybertron on quests to rescue them from alien worlds, warlords, and monsters. The Transformers were created by the Quintessons to combat the Ogrelords across the universe, but it was Shrek who gave them life in an attempt to sabotage the Quintesson war machine.

Punch-Counterpunch. This way you could show the inner workings of the Autobots and Decepticons from the view of a single Transformers, and show how it affects him as an individual.

Beachcomber. An Autobot who cares about something beyond the war, humans, and his fellow Autobots. Show the character of an Autobot who cares about the beings and places most other Autobots, let alone Decepticons, don't.

Kim. The leader of the Kardashotrons having her own movie could get plenty of millennial chicks into Transformers. It could be the most empty and superficial piece of Transformers fiction ever while making big bucks at the same time! Plus, it could sell toys AND Kim K's products!

 

A spy-like movie with Makeshift would be awesome. So much potential  

Or just something with the stunticons. But that's more then 1 character XD
Other then that I would love to see like Glowstrike and Saberhorn in movie versions. I think the prison break on a crashed ship story could work like rid. Just a random idea though

 

Aerialbots vs Stunticons film. It takes place after Bumblebee film. Aerialbots are built by Wheeljack and Ratchet and Stunticons are built by Shockwave. Blackjack and Alpha Bravo are added to the lineup.
An Ironhide and Sideswipe film with Lennox and Epps set between Transformers (2007) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Using their Mentor and Mentee relationship from the comics. Kind of a Nest Film. Optimus only appears at the beginning of the film. Villain: Bludgeon and Deadlock. Decepticons spotted in a rainforest.

 

I think any live-action Transformers movie we get is going to have a large human presence just by virtue of it being live-action and having to appeal to an audience that might not be huge fans of the Transformers. I think Bumblebee is easily the best suited Transformer for a spinoff. If he didn't work (which I think he did), I don't think there's any hope for spinoffs about other characters. The sad truth is that outside of Optimus, Bee, and Megatron (and maybe Starscream) none of the characters probably have enough name recognition to be profitable (to a wide audience) on their own...and Megatron and Starscream probably won't get movies since they're villains.

That being said, I feel like Jazz would be somewhat suited to a spinoff. Not that Jazz is profitable on his own, but they could play up the diversity angle to make the movie a hit (kind of like Black Panther...no one really knew who he was). Maybe they could even tie it into music culture or something.

I also liked that idea of the Skyfire/Jetfire movie set in WW2, where the pilots find him crashed on an island. Jetfire is a neat character because he has an obvious character arc. The WW2 connection is a good way to sell it to general audiences. I kind of hope they revisit this idea at some point.

 

Still hoping they revive that Operation: Skyfire film.

 

I'm quite surprised bay didn't use the Stunticons. With them being reckless drivers performing crazy stunts, that would have been right up his alley. . .

 

I'm a fan of the MCU as a whole, but I'm not a fan of having to follow every single character thread when some of them are just subpar. It's the most accurate film portrayal of comic book culture so far due to its vast interconnectedness, but a lot of entries only exist to be connected by plot without any original character building. When space operas and serials first started, the interconnectedness was implied and you could follow any character you wanted. A lot of '70s and '80s films like Star Wars, Flash Gordon, and Buckaroo Banzai captured the feeling of comics perfectly. When Obi-Wan talks about the Jedi Knights and the Clone Wars, they're brought up organically without the audience knowing what they are because what they are doesn't matter to the present story. You can infer what it means to the characters from the emotional context. That's why I'm sick of, "Oh, CGI de-aged Michael Douglas used to work with Iron Man's dad, that's so cool!" or, "Haha, an alien cat scratched Nick Fury's eye," which doesn't even make sense. The overall MCU is built well, but imagine if these little moments of lazy worldbuilding filled up all of Infinity War, then you'd have something like The Last Knight. You've got all these references that make no sense like Bumblebee's voice, Starscream's head, the Knights, the Witwiccans, and the Creators. There's even a moment when Megatron says, "We were brothers once," and Optimus kicks him to his doom, but we're already way past that arc since it's redundant to the end of DotM (which handled it way better, by the way). Comic books contradict each other all the time in service of their individual stories, but TLK writers contradicted so much in service of nothing but being careless. With the score being so epic and melodramatic, TLK acts like it's the culmination of every arc you've seen before, but it's not. It's a commercial for endless spin-offs explaining how Bumblebee saved Winston Churchill's mansion from Nazi occupation, how Hot Rod got stuck with a French accent, how Cogman is a Headmaster, how Unicron will return, etc.

The most comic-booky moments in the last two films are Optimus suddenly having rocket feet, Megatron suddenly having a new body, and Bumblebee suddenly being able to split into many parts and come back together because characters inexplicably gaining new abilities and supermodes are part of the whole Japanese robot superhero subculture. The G1 cartoon is guilty of the same thing, but doing the same thing in Bayverse doesn't fit in with the gritty, modern, "Hollywood" feeling they're going for. BB isn't a masterpiece, but its simplicity is the reason it's the only project to materialize from Bay's "writer's room." It references a tonne of G1 and Bayverse elements organically without disturbing its own central story. It even handles the Japanese robot superhero subculture much better. Shatter and Dropkick aren't the first triple-changers in live-action, but there's so much going on in Bayverse that it's hard to even notice that Mixmaster (RotF) and Drift (AoE) were triple-changers, which should be a big deal. That's why they emphasized the hell out of Shatter and Dropkick's triple-changing sequences, deliberately putting them in situations where they use all three modes in a single shot. Also, a lot of the BB promo material in Asian countries makes a huge deal out of their ability to turn into three things. While Bayverse connected with general audiences, BB connected with fans because its team understands the subculture. Appealing to a smaller group rather than general audiences might make less money in the beginning, but if you grow that group until it becomes the general audience, you'll have much more longevity this time around.

But retro for the sake of retro doesn't cut it. One of the shared weaknesses of the MCU and Bayverse is that they largely feel one-note. MCU's been owning up to this lately with stranger, more cosmic storylines, which is a huge part of comic book culture. Transformers shouldn't be confined to just one style of film, be it Bayverse or G1. If they want to make an Orion Pax/Megatronus gladiator film, go for it. If they want to adapt the Hate Plague like an outbreak film, they should. Even if someone wants to reuse the Bayverse robot designs for an alternate timeline story, they should be able to (but maybe give it a few years to cool down as to not confuse the market). Into the Spider-Verse and Joker proved that people of all ages can easily understand standalone timelines. Comic books have no problem breaking each other's rules and challenging each other's styles, so why should films?

Therefore, one aspect of TLK concept art that seems promising for a spin-off is Operation: Skyfire. It's clearly got a unique style and an interesting choice of time period, but its story and characters absolutely shouldn't be dictated by where it takes place chronologically with Bayverse or BB. I believe it should be a long-form adaptation of Fire in the Sky with notable differences from G1. They could still uncover him from the arctic, but during WWII instead. That gives the opportunity for him to sacrifice himself for a team of new Autobot characters rather than the distraction of having Team Prime show up in minor roles to pander to fans. The point of his sacrifice is that he did what was right, not who he did it for. The focus should always be characterization, and something vital to Skyfire's character is defecting from the Decepticons because of his morality. If it's a WWII film, maybe the Nazis are allied with the Decepticons, but there shouldn't be too many Transformers on either side because then it turns into another battle blockbuster. Maybe there should only be one Decepticon running an off-the-books operation on Earth. An organic choice would be Starscream teaming up with Nazi scientists to make a superweapon behind Megatron's back. Maybe the superweapon is a deadly new aircraft and Skyfire crashes into it to save the Autobots. One thing necessary for this film to work on an emotional level is that it doesn't set up a sequel. When Skyfire dies, it's final. That doesn't invalidate other versions of Jetfire appearing in other films, but this version saved this timeline by giving his life.

 

This would've been great. A Jetfire origin story preferably during WW2.

 

Me too. It's basically the exact thing I want from Transformers media. Out-of-the-box stuff that feels fresh and lends itself to fun designs and new situations for the Transformers to use their alternate modes. It's a shame that all they seemed to get from this pitch was "material for backstory in TLK". This easily could have been it's own movie.

 

I'd like to see a Knock Out / Jazz buddy flick detailing how they are adjusting to coming to Earth for the first time.

 

Megatron. He is one of the 3 most popular characters in the franchise. Bumblebee, Optimus, and megatron. A megatron centric film focused on his backstory would be absolutely amazing if made well. Going into his turn to the bad side from his gladitorial days, it would be amazing.

 

Starscream in a "Joker" type origin movie that can also serve to show how the Decepticons started and what Megatron is like to live with and work with. Show the traitor being born!

The Battlechargers voiced by Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead) doing a cross country vandalism tour while the Autobots and Sector 7 butt heads and struggle with how to respond to their incredibly public outbursts. Replicate the 'humans are wimps' graffiti on the statue of liberty and punctuate it with massive human casualties. They're sent ahead of the Decepticon Armada as "Megatron's Personal Harbingers". Soundwave can also feature, operating in the shadows as the Battlechargers field commander, using his cassette minions to gather intel on the enemy while they're distracted. End the film with the Decepticons finally arriving en masse in the skyline above poor Lady Liberty...

 

Maybe a film on Drift, centring on his life as a former Decepticon and how he changed sides to the Autobots.

 

Perhaps the scavengers? An ensemble comedy, of course. Or Runamuck and Runabout being asshats for two hours. However, the former suggestion could work in the same way guardians of the galaxy does. Or even a Lockdown movie.

 

Lockdown and Drift are both good ideas.

Jazz too. I'd enjoy a Jazz movie. Or a Blaster film replicating the Smelting Pit arc with Straxus and Scrounge.

Megatron of course is worthy. I'd argue any Decepticon Pillar Character (Megs, Scream, Soundwave, Shockwave) would be able to carry a movie.

Grimlock/Dinobots Furman Style.

My final plea would be....Sky-Byte!

It doesn't matter where or when it takes place, a properly adapted Sky-Byte waxing and singing would be a hit with people. Sure hardly anyone knows him, and that's perfect. He'd be a fresh and vibrant new kind of TF to general audiences and longtime fans could still sit back and enjoy the homage. It can be action packed sort of a war comedy. The coolest shark around can bumble across the galaxy and multiple battlefields with a litany of other homages/cameos. I suppose the real plot would have to be some sort of madhatted scavenger hunt he'd been sent on. His rival investigator could be Nightbeat! Oh and they can go to planets based on the old Marvel Matrix Quest.

There we go. A Sky-Byte movie featuring Sky-Byte sent by High Command bumbling along a Marvel Style Matrix Quest across many worlds VS more competent, rogue Decepticons (Thunderwing and Co), selfish neutrals (Lockdown), and the Autobots Greatest Detectives! (Nightbeat and a couple other blokes). It writes itself.

Hey, if LOCKDOWN and THE FALLEN, two obscure, only-hardcore-fans-know sorta villains can be tapped by the movies then so can Sky-Byte!

 

One dinobot's movie

 

Megatron, Optimus prime or the Dinobots would work great and I'd love a Jetfire movie as well