Transformers One

Spoiler warning:Plot and/or ending details forTransformers One follow.

Transformers One

Transformers One is 2024 animated science fiction action film directed by Josh Cooley. The film starsChris Hemsworth,Brian Tyree Henry,Scarlett Johansson,Keegan-Michael Key,Steve Buscemi,Laurence Fishburne, andJon Hamm. The film serves as an origin story for the Transformers, and centers around the relationship betweenOptimus Prime (originally known as Orion Pax) andMegatron (originally known as D-16) prior to becoming mortal enemies.

The film was released on September 20, 2024.

Synopsis[]

TRANSFORMERS ONE is the untold origin story ofOptimus Prime andMegatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever.

Plot[]

Energon minerOrion Pax sneaks into Iacon City's data archives, hoping to find information on theMatrix of Leadership, a lost artifact. He finds information aboutCybertron's origins. The creator of the Transformers, Primus sacrificed himself, and created the first Transformers, the thirteen Primes. He also created the Matrix of Leadership, that was given to the leader of the thirteen Primes,Zeta Prime. The Matrix allowed energon, Cybertron's power source, to flow through the planet. But at some point, the Matrix was lost, frustrating Orion, as stories about the Matrix always ended at it being lost. Then, Orion is caught by a pair of guards in the archives, who chase him throughout Iacon City, until he is saved by his best friendD-16, who distracts the guards, and sneaks Orion onto a train, and they get away. After talking about Orion's chase, Orion gives D-16 a decal of his idol, one of the Thirteen Primes,Megatronus Prime.

Orion and D-16 head to their job down in the mines, where they work under the supervision ofElita-1. The miners use jet packs to navigate the energon mines, and use deployable support pillars to temporarily keep the mines from collapsing. While mining, another miner,Wheeljack, accidentally hits a vein of unstable energon, which blows up, and the mine begins collapsing, trapping another miner,Jazz. Despite being ordered to evacuate, Orion and D-16 attempt to save Jazz, using a jet pack to narrowly escape. The explosion has damaged a lot of mining equipment, and one of the mine guard's,Darkwing, comes down and demotes Elita to waste management duty, despite Orion taking the blame.

Later that day, Iacon City's leader,Sentinel Prime returns from Cybertron's surface in search of the Matrix of Leadership. He announces to the city that he ultimately, did not find the Matrix, but does announce the Iacon 5000, a racing event, will take place the following day. Orion tries to convince D-16 to join him in the Iacon 5000, hoping to prove to the rest of Cybertron that miner bots deserve respect, but he is unable to convince him. The following day, Orion leads D-16 to the maintenance area right in the starting light above the Iacon 5000's starting line. D-16 is excited about being able to watch the race from the perfect vantage point, but his excitement quickly turns to confusion, as Orion attaches a jet pack to their backs. Then, the race begins, and the two of them are dropped right onto the track, and they begin flying. They manage to dodge multiple obstacles, and they make their way to first place, but having lost their jet packs, they are forced to walk across the finish line, but with D-16's leg injured, they are passed byChromia, who takes first place, followed by the rest of the racers.

In an Iacon medical center, D-16 is annoyed at Orion, assuming they are about to be in a lot of trouble. Their worries are increased when they meetAirachnid, Sentinel Prime's enforcer. When Sentinel finally arrives, he surprises the bots by saying he actually loved their stunt. Their stunt had caused miner productivity to increase to 150%. Sentinel then offers them a chance to tour the mines, helping to inspire their fellow miners. Orion and D-16 agree, and Sentinel orders Airachnid to take them to his private quarters. Sentinel leaves, and before the pair are able to be taken to Sentinel's quarters, one of the racers, and the mine guard who demoted Elita earlier, Darkwing arrives, angered at the duo, who caused him to nearly lose the race. He forcefully takes them down to Cybertron's fiftieth sub-level, locking them in a trash incineration room, where they meet the one bot down there -B-127, who has been stuck working in the incineration room for years. B introduces Orion and D-16 to friends, Steve, EP-508 and A-A-Tron, who are really just statues built out of junk by B. Orion accidentally beheads Steve, which reveals a hidden beacon, broadcasting a set of coordinates to the surface world. The trio decide to investigate the mysterious coordinates, and the leave the incineration room by climbing up the dump chute.

Orion, D-16 and B sneak aboard an automated garbage train, headed for the surface, but they are caught by Elita, who is then locked in the train with them. She tries to call for help, but the train starts, causing her to rush for the front of the train, where she can report them to security. The trio chase after her, which becomes much harder as the train begins to move vertically toward the surface. Elita opens a hatch to the roof of the train, followed closely by the trio, but their chase comes to an end as they find themselves on the surface. They are initially surprised by the natural beauty of the planet, but that surprise turns to panic, as the ground begins heaving upwards, knocking them off the train, and knocking them unconsious. They wake in time to watch another train pass, enraging Elita. She agrees to join the trio, as long as she is in command, she has the map and they turn themselves in to authorities after they find the Matrix, which Orion agrees to, and the four of them set off on their journey. They come across the herd of robotic quadrepedal animals, which suddenly begin running from something, when the ground begins to tremble. They soon discover the cause of the trembling is aQuintesson ship, which scans for lifeforms, which they manage to narrowly avoid.

Their journey leads them to a cave, where they find the thirteen Primes, lying dead and overgrown. Much to their dismay, they are unable to find the Matrix, but Orion discovers that one of the thirteen,Alpha Trion, still has a functioning spark. Orion uses an energon cube given by B to revive the elder bot. As they bring Alpha Trion up to date on history, they mention Sentinel Prime. Alpha Trion reveals that Sentinel Prime is a traitor, who was the principal aide of the Primes. He revealed to the Primes that he had discovered a Quintesson transmission, revealing that a secret meeting among Quintesson commanders was happening. Sentinel led the thirteen Primes to the very same cave they stood in. Sentinel had lied, it was a Quintesson ambush. The Quintessons attacked at the thirteen Primes, who managed to hold them off, almost winning, until they were betrayed by Sentinel, who killed multiple Primes, finishing off Zeta Prime last. Sentinel wanted the Matrix of Leadership, which was carried by Zeta Prime. He opened Zeta Prime's chest, and took out the Matrix, but it was then ripped out of his hands, and vanished. Primus had deemed him unworthy to wield the Matrix. Orion, D-16, Elita and B are shocked by this revelation, and when they ask Alpha Trion why Sentinel did it, he reveals Sentinel bargained with the Quintessons. They leave the cave, and they watch as multiple Quintesson ships diverge on a location, as well as one much larger Quintesson ship, that flies over their heads. They then watch Sentinel and hisDeath Trackers arrive, along with a train, to meet theQuintesson High Commander. They watch as Sentinel and his Death Trackers kneel to the High Commander, and he signals the train to be unloaded, which opens the tops of the train's cargo, and the Quintesson ships begin to unload crates from the train, initially confusing the bots, as they wondered why they would need toxic waste, but then the crates open, and they realise Sentinel to giving the Quintesson their mined energon. An angered D-16 alerts Airachnid, who uses her many eyes to look behind her, but she sees nothing. The Quintesson High Commander lifts up Sentinel, angered that the amount of energon is much less than expected. Sentinel explains that their mines are running low on energon, but he pleads, saying he will get the rest of the energon the Quintessons need. Sentinel then orders miners shift times to be tripled, and that no miner gets a break until all the energon is acquired. Sentinel and his Death Trackers then leave.

Sentinel's betrayal confuses, and horrifies the bots, but for D-16, it completely enrages him. He and Orion get into an argument, where D-16 reveals he now wishes to kill Sentinel. Alpha Trion then reveals one last piece of information about Sentinel's betrayal: Every Transformer is born with a transformation cog, an item which allows a Transformer to transform. Sentinel had intentionally stripped every newborn Transformer of their cog and forced them to work in the mines so he can get more energon to give to the Quintessons. Seeing potentional in the bots before him, Alpha Trion gives them the cogs ofPrima Prime,Onyx Prime,Alchemist Prime, andMicronus Prime, and they undergo a transformation into newer and bigger bodies. They are then interrupted by rumbling, they have been found by Sentinel's Death Trackers. D-16 wishes to fight them, but is ordered by Alpha Trion to return to Iacon City, he gives Orion a recording of Sentinel with the Quintesson High Commander, and they leave, though Orion doesn't want to leave Alpha Trion behind, he insists to stay behind. Orion eventually leaves, and the Death Trackers get inside. Alpha Trion transforms and uses his alternate mode to take out the Death Trackers, but he is incapacitated by Airachnid.

The group of bots run from the cave, where they finally try to transform. They fall down onto a steep hill, where they struggle to transform as they are fired upon by Death Trackers, but with enough trouble, they finally transform and take out the Death Trackers. As they talk about their plan to expose Sentinel, D-16 snatches the evidence from Orion and takes the lead, his growing anger worries Orion.

In Iacon City, Alpha Trion is brought to Sentinel Prime. who mocks him. Sentinel then asks who was with him in the cave, to which he replies that they are his undoing. Alpha Trion tells Sentinel that he has lost, and Sentinel responds by using his double-bladed sword to stab, and kill Alpha Trion. Sentinel then orders Airachnid to find the miners. On their way back to Iacon City, Orion, D-16, Elita and B are suddenly put into stasis, and when they awake they find themselves bound (while only B is gagged). They have been captured by the CybertronianHigh Guard, led byStarscream, a group who aim to end Sentinel's rule. Starscream leadership doesn't impress D-16, who challenges him, the fight ends after D-16 chokes Starscream, damaging his speech module, and then suddenly, a fusion cannon transforms on his arm, and he points it at Starscream. His aggression against Starscream further worries Orion. Then, they are attacked by the Death Trackers, D-16, B and half of the High Guard are captured and taken to Iacon City, while Orion, Elita and the rest of the High Guard are left behind. Orion is trapped under a pile of rocks, but is saved by Elita. They find the evidence against Sentinel has been destroyed. Orion then loses hope, but Elita tells him that his endless optimism is what makes him a true leader. Orion and Elita come up with a plan, they manage to rally the remaining High Guard members.

In Iacon City, D-16, B and the captured High Guard members are brought to Sentinel's tower, where he gloats over them. Sentinel annoys D-16, but D-16 stands up in front of Sentinel, and declares he isn't scared of him. Sentinel takes notice to the Megatronus Prime decal on D-16's shoulder, he reveals he stole Megatronus Prime's cog after killing him. He takes the Megatronus Prime decal and puts it on D-16's chest, knocking him over and taking a mining tool to carve Megatronus Prime's face into D-16's chest.

Above Iacon City, Orion utilizes the smokestacks of his new form to boost down to the depths of Iacon City and meets with his fellow miners. He reveals the truth about Sentinel, and he rallies them to join him, D-16, B, Elita and the High Guard to rebel against Sentinel. Meanwhile, Elita,Soundwave andShockwave have taken control of a garbage train, where they are keeping the remaining members of the High Guard to use in a surprise attack. When they see Sentinel's Death Tracks, they assume their plan will fail, but Orion and the miners, using jet packs, come up to deal with them. Airachnid slams Orion into the front of the train, opening the back of her head, revealing multiple hidden optics, which gives Orion an idea.

D-16 rises against Sentinel again, but the false Prime is not worried. Just as Sentinel is about to kill D-16, the train crashes into the tower. Soundwave frees the prisoners, and a fight breaks out among the freed prisoners and Sentinel's Death Trackers. Orion and D-16 can't find Sentinel, but he reveals himself when he fires at Orion and D-16, the two of them, joined by B and Elita watch as Sentinel arises, transforming into his battle mode, firing multiple rockets at the bots. He continues firing at D-16, while Orion, B and Elita take cover. Orion finally tries to explain his plan. They need Airachnid for her memories. Suddenly, Airachnid tackles Elita and they begin fighting. Orion warns Elita not to break Airachnid, and tells her to bring Airachnid to the Iacon broadcast station. Orion and B transform and rush over to the Iacon broadcast station.

Meanwhile, D-16 is fighting Sentinel, who gains the upper hand, and pins D-16 down, preparing to kill him, until Orion, B and Elita arrive with Airachnid, and they broadcast recordings of Sentinel throughout the city, causing citizens to rebel. Sentinel watches in horror as the citizens call him out for his betrayal. D-16 then tackles the distracted Sentinel off of his tower, and begins repeatedly punching Sentinel, who activates his thrusters, and they crash onto a building. D-16 stands and tries to shoot Sentinel with his fusion cannon, but Sentinel manages to get out of the way. Sentinel pleads with D-16, telling him they can lead Cybertron together. D-16 says nothing, and aims his fusion cannon at Sentinel and fires, but is tackled by Orion, who tries to tell D-16 that the fight is over, and everyone knows of Sentinal's wrong doings, but D-16 still believes that Sentinel needs to die. D-16 tries to tell Orion to move, but he kicks Orion out of the way. He aims his cannon at Sentinel and fires, but this time Orion leaps in the way, and is hit in the chest, leaving a massive hole in his chest, and causing his left arm to fall off. Orion falls off the edge of the building, but D-16 leaps and grabs his hand. He initially asks Orion why, but he has lost trust in his best friend, and he declares he is done saving Orion, and lets go of his hand, letting Orion fall into a deep, black hole.

Death Trackers come to Sentinel's aid, but they cannot stop D-16, as he defeats them and picks up Sentinel and tears him in half. He grabs Megatronus Prime's cog from out of Sentinel's chest. He steps forward to rally the High Guard, declaring the age of Primes as over. He swaps his cog with Megatronus Prime's cog, and his body undergoes another transformation, and he gives himself a new name - Megatron. Meanwhile, Orion is now dead, his body has turned grey as he continues falling into the center of Cybertron, where he is suddenly grabbed by a blue light. He is carried to the very center of Cybertron, where he encounters the spirits of the thirteen Primes. Alpha Trion announces that Primus has deemed Orion worthy to carry the Matrix of Leadership. Primus reformats Orion Pax, giving him a new body and restoring his spark, as he becomes the newest member of the Primes - Optimus Prime. Optimus shoots up to the surface in a ball of blue light, meanwhile Megatron has ordered his new army to begin destroying Iacon City. Elita and B try to stop Megatron, but they are unable to, but that is when Optimus emerges from the ground, smashing into Megatron. Megatron is annoyed that Primus chose Orion to have the Matrix, but Optimus tries to tell Megatron they could have built the future together. But Megatron refuses, claiming he will build his own, after destroying everyone in his way. Then he rushes at Optimus, and they begin fighting. The fight takes a turn in Optimus' favour, when he manifests an energon axe, which he uses to fight against Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave and Shockwave. After he cuts Megatron's fusion cannon in half, he reluctantly banishes Megatron and the High Guard from Iacon. Megatron does as told, and takes himself and the High Guard up to the surface. As Optimus watches Megatron and the High Guard leave, he remembers the moment he first met D-16. He is approached by Elita and B. Optimus then promotes Elita to Major, which Elita rejects, instead asking for Commander, instead, which Optimus agrees to. Optimus also tells B that he cannot send him down to sub-level 50, as he needs B by his side, pleasing B as he now gets to work with the government.

The Matrix of Leadership begins to glow, life to Cybertron has been restored, and energon begins flowing from the core to the surface, and every cogless bots receives their transformation cogs, and Optimus declares themAutobots. Optimus sends a message to the Quintessons, warning them that if they return to Cybertron, the Autobots will be waiting for them.

In a mid-credits scene, B reunites with Steve, EP-508 and A-A-Tron, but with his new sword hands, accidentally stabs Steve and A-A-Tron.

In a post-credit scene, Megatron rallies the High Guard, and gives them a new logo, and a new name: theDecepticons.

Cast[]

Production[]

• On March 27, 2015, it was reported thatParamount Pictures had taskedAkiva Goldsman with setting up a writers room to create ideas for future Transformers films.^[1]
• On May 27, 2015, it was reported thatAndrew Barrer andGabriel Ferrari had joined the writers room, and that one of the ideas that was brought up in the writers room was an origin story with a working title ofTransformers One.^[2]
• On December 20, 2018,Lorenzo di Bonaventura confirmed that an animated film set on Cybertron was in development.^[3]
• On April 29, 2020,Josh Cooley was announced to be directing the film, and overseeing a final draft of the script.^[4]
• On May 24, 2021,Hasbro CEOBrian Goldner re-confirms the animated film is in development, and that the film would be released sometime afterTransformers: Rise of the Beasts.^[5]
• On January 21, 2022, Paramount officially announced an untitled animated Transformers film would be released on July 19th, 2024.^[6]
• On April 21, 2023, di Bonaventura revealed the films animation would be done byIndustrial Light & Magic.^[7]
• On April 27, 2023, the film was officially titledTransformers One. The first members of the cast were also revealed, includingChris Hemsworth asOrion Pax / Optimus Prime,Scarlett Johansson asElita,Keegan-Michael Key asBumblebee,Brian Tyree Henry asD-16 / Megatron,Jon Hamm asSentinel Prime, andLaurence Fishburne asAlpha Trion.^[8]
• On May 24, 2023, the film was delayed to September 13th, 2024.^[9]
• On June 7, 2023,Steve Desmond was announced as an additional writer.^[10]
• On July 20, 2023, di Bonaventura confirmed that Optimus Prime and Megatron will be referred to by their original names, Orion Pax and D-16.^[11]
• On April 12, 2024,Steve Buscemi was confirmed to be in the film.^[12]
• On April 18, 2024, the first trailer was released. It was also announced the film would be delayed a week to September 20, 2024.
• On July 25, 2024, the second trailer was released. The same day, it was confirmed Buscemi would voice Starscream.^[13]

Trailers[]

Transformers One - Official Trailer (2024) - Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson-2

Trailer 1

TRANSFORMERS ONE - Official Trailer 2 (2024 Movie) - Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry-2

Trailer 2

Transformers One - Final Trailer (2024) - Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson-2

Final Trailer

References[]