Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the BeastsTransformers: Rise of the Beastspicks up in 1994, seven years after the events ofBumblebee. The film did pick up a few lessons from its immediate predecessor, which benefits the film as a whole. The number of Transformers, good and bad, is relatively small, allowing a more intimate connection with the viewer. Likewise, the plot is straightforward, withoutweird detours to King Arthur and the Order of Witwiccans. It has the big explosions and battles inherent to the franchise, but, refreshingly, notMichael Bay-level excessiveness. The film is clearly meant to revive the franchise, working off the goodwill garnered withBumblebee. What you may not know, though, is that the film is aiming to revive not one, buttwofilm franchises, as revealed in a twist. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for bringing more humanity into the Transformers world.
To understand the twist, here’s the context. Ex-military electronics expert Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) needs money for his family, and resorts to trying to steal a Porsche. The good-hearted man can’t go through with it, but now he’s locked inside the Porsche. His timing couldn’t be worse: the Porsche is actually the Autobot known as Mirage (Pete Davidson), and Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) has called all Autobots to his location. The reason? Museum intern Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback) has inadvertently activated the Transwarp Key, a device that can open portals through space and time. It was brought to Earth centuries before by the Maximals, a race of Cybertronians who transform into beasts. The activation alerts Optimus, but also draws the attention of the Terrorcons, led by Scourge (Peter Dinklage), who has been seeking the Transwarp Key for his master, the planet-eater known as Unicron (Colman Domingo). To make a long story short, Scourge gets the two halves of the Transwarp Key, activates it to bring Unicron to our galaxy, but is stopped in the nick of time by the Autobots and the Maximals, with the help of Noah and Elena.
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The ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Twist Is Promising
Atthe end ofTransformers: Rise of the Beasts, Noah is seen in a job interview, hoping to land a security job position. His resume is weak, so he tries to impress the interviewer with his recent adventure, without getting into the “save the world” aspect and the big space robots. Only, the interviewer knows the story. All of it. He thanks Noah for his part in saving the world, and tells him that his brother, who suffers from an unspecified illness, will have all of his medical fees covered, with access to the best doctors, in gratitude. The man then asks Noah if he’d be interested in joining an elite military team tasked with averting global threats. He asks Noah to think about it, and drops his card on the table before exiting out a secret doorway. The card reveals that Agent Burke (Michael Kelly) is recruiting for that team. And that team is G.I. Joe.
A shock for even the actors involved, the reveal is an exciting one (audible gasps were heard in the theater), and instantly hikes anticipation through the roof. TheTransformersfranchise found new life by focusing on a single fan-favorite character withBumblebee, but a similar play for theG.I. Joefranchise, 2021’sSnake Eyes, fell flat, which makes the twist the most positive news about that franchise in a long time. Rumors of a crossover have been around for ages, with producerLorenzo di Bonaventurasuggesting how it could be done in aninterview back in 2013. With imagination running rampant on what that crossover could, or should, look like, it’s easy to overlook how a crossover withG.I. Joebrings in that humanity mentioned earlier.
The ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Twist Is a Course Correct
By addingG.I. Joeinto the mix, theTransformersfranchise will (and let’s face it — the crossoverwillhappen… there’s no putting that back into the box) correct the simply asinine decision to turn humans against the Autobots, beginning with 2014’sTransformers: Age of Extinction. That film saw humans cease all joint operations with the Autobots, viewing them as hostile, and tasking a rogue CIA black ops division to hunt them down. Now, the Autobots can work side by side with G.I. Joe in a far more complementary manner. Optimus Prime’s eyes are opened inRise of theBeasts, with Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) teaching him that there are more to humans than meets the eye (very clever line), meaning he is far more open to collaborating with humans, and on a deeper level. He has now seen first-hand how humans share the same emotions. Being able to relate at that level means that the Autobots and the G.I. Joe team, humans, are on the same page for what would arguably be the first time in the franchise. Yes, the Autobots did fight alongside humansin the first three films, but you never really got the impression that it was a collaborative effort, more one born out of necessity. Having the Autobots work with the G.I. Joe team broadens the scope of the synergy between Autobots and humans, something that was lacking by having that relationship represented by a single human, Sam (Shia LaBeouf) or Cade (Mark Wahlberg). This crossover would also level the balance of power between the two groups, with G.I. Joe having access to tech that levels the playing field, and in so doing sets them up as equals.
Now that’s all fine and good, but circaAge of Extinctionthat humanity and relationship gets severed, as we’ve seen. Or has it?Rise of theBeastshas a plot hole that, if purposeful, rights the wrong and keeps that healthy Autobot/human relationship intact. If you remember (or if you were still awake), inTransformers: The Last Knightwe learn that Earth itself is Unicron in disguise. In the newest film, Earth and Unicron are definitely two separate entities, separated by time and space. Both can’t be true, at least not without resorting to some big, convoluted bollocks that tainted the period beforeBumblebee, and the smart money is on a fresh history. So if all things go well, the next installment will see the Autobots side-by-side with Noah (as maybe Dial Tone, or Hi-Tech) and G.I. Joe, keeping humanity safe for Cybertronians and humans alike.
