“Till all are one.”
Across the Transformers franchise, we’ve seen all sorts of different stories and background lore as to why there is a war being fought between the Autobots and the Decepticons. However, there is a general foundation. Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots and Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons – both wanted a change from the backward government that led Cybertron, but both had different approaches to this goal. In continuities such as Transformers Prime, Transformers: Cyberverse, and Transformers One, Optimus and Megatron were once friends. In other continuities, such as Earthspark and the IDW comics, it almost seems as if Megatron is the more reasonable one, which is a far cry from the original G1 cartoon.
The main takeaway here is that these characters are a lot more developed than people think. Whether they’re reflections for real-life scenarios or serve as a lesson, these are more than just fighting robots. Something that, in my personal opinion; Michael Bay neglected to get across during his time directing the Transformers films. While Optimus usually had a great quote in these movies, the films neglected to show the nuisance of Cybertronian society and how a difference of opinion could lead to the complete downfall of their world. Personally, Optimus and Megatron always felt like a parallel of Magneto and Professor X. Same goals, different approaches.
The Bayverse
Let’s go back to the Michael Bay point and it will tie into the title of this op-ed. Because Bay concentrated so heavily on the human aspect of the Transformers taking place on Earth, he used the Cybertronians purely for action, while making his emotional beats come from the humans. Not that he really did the best job here – sorry, but humans running around screaming and cliche romantic moments don’t count. It’s a point that’s been made before, but movies like the Bumblebee film really felt like a nice balance between showcasing Cybertronian society and depth, while also including the humans. Unfortunately, we went back to a lot of the old problems with Rise of the Beasts.
G.I. No
So, how does G.I. Joe tie into all of this? Well, the ending of Rise of the Beasts teased the inclusion of G.I. Joe – Hasbro’s other IP that’s been suffering on the big screen more than Transformers in the last few decades. So, it would make sense that Hasbro would want to piggyback on their more popular franchise (Transformers) by throwing in G.I. Joe. The problem? More humans. More humans means less time away from the Cybertronians, who would most likely go back to their role as simply fighting robots, instead of living beings.
The few seconds in the beginning of Bumblebee looked great, but the real hope that I had for the franchise was Transformers One. While it was fully animated, it took place entirely on Cybertron and showed audiences that these big giant robots once had a society and showed the beginnings of Optimus and Megatron and what led them to descend down the path they did. Unfortunately, the movie did poorly in the box office and it’s unlikely we’ll get a sequel. It’s a shame, because it was a fun, action-packed film, with both funny moments, and emotionally charged scenes. The voice acting was wonderful and for the most part, the film stayed true to the evergreen designs of its legacy characters. While not every character was actually how their G1 counterparts were, they were more faithful and respectful to these characters than Bay ever was.
While the Transformers/G.I. Joe project seems to be in limbo currently, Hollywood has shown an inability to not shoot itself in the foot. Between pointless remakes, unnecessary sequels, and crap decision-making, it’s not far-fetched to say that we’ll eventually see this project come to fruition. And it will further push the Transformers franchise down. The whole situation makes me feel like the Scarlet Witch; instead of saying “no more mutants,” all I want to say is “no more humans”.
So, what’s up with the quote at the beginning of the blog post? “Till All Are One” is a mantra said since the G1 days and takes on a lot of different meanings. My favorites include: meaning until the end of the war, till all reunite within the Allspark, and till all Cybertronians are one again – meaning no more factions. It’s just another example of the impact and powerful meaning behind many Transformers stories – ones that are muddied by the inclusion of humans and would continue to be muddied if put back into the hands of Bay and those behind the disastrous decisions that made Rise of the Beasts [and subsequently, the end-credit scene] possible.
A girl with too many fandoms to count.
