The Transformers franchise is growing with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and here is a recap of the movies’ story so far and which ones need to be rewatched. Paramount’s live-action series based on Hasbro’s iconic action figures began in 2007 under the guidance of Michael Bay. His days of leading the franchise are done, as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts represents how the movies are evolving. It is the seventh live-action Transformers movie made during the last 16 years, but it takes place in 1994, years before many of the other installments, and stars an entirely new group of human characters.
Directed by Steven Caple Jr., Transformers: Rise of the Beasts follows Noah (Anthony Ramos) as he meets Mirage and the Autobots, making him part of a mission to save the world. This includes working alongside Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, who have appeared in all six previous Transformers movies, but the sequel also introduces new factions and characters through the Maximals, Terrorcons, and Predacons. Since it has been five years since the last entry, it is understandable to not completely remember everything that has occurred in the movies and what is still canon. Here is a Transformers movies story recap and rewatch guide before Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
10 Sam Witwicky Helped The Autobots Save Earth In The Original Transformers Trilogy
The Transformers franchise began in 2007 with the first movie directed by Michael Bay that starred Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky and Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes. The first movie showed Sam meeting Bumblebee and ultimately playing a pivotal role in helping the Autobots stop Megatron’s schemes. This became the basis for more adventures between Sam Witwicky and the Autobots, as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen had them work together to defeat The Fallen. They worked together again in Transformers: Dark of the Moon to stop Sentinel Prime and Megatron from bringing Cybertron to Earth. This meant Sam helped the Autobots save Earth three times in the original Transformers trilogy.
9 Cade Yeager Helped The Autobots Save Earth In Transformers 4 & 5
The Transformers franchise story continued after the original trilogy by shifting the focus to a new human lead, Mark Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager. The hopeful inventor rescued Optimus Prime in Transformers: Age of Extinction years after the Battle of Chicago. Cade helped the Autobots fight back against Lockdown and an evil corporation responsible for turning Megatron into Galvatron. Their partnership continued in Transformers: The Last Knight, which gave Wahlberg’s character a pivotal role in revealing he was the prophesied “last knight.” This allowed Cade to help the Autobots defeat Quintessa, stop her plan of using Unicron’s energy to rebuild Cybertron, and bring Optimus Prime back to help the Autobots.
8 The Transformers Movie Franchise Was Rebooted With Bumblebee
Paramount decided to reboot the Transformers movie canon with the sixth entry in the franchise, Bumblebee. The 2018 movie takes place in 1987, meaning its events technically precede everything that occurs in Michael Bay’s movies. While it was thought that this made Bumblebee a Transformers prequel, the movie’s events ultimately proved that it was responsible for rebooting the franchise in various ways. This is despite the fact that the movie was born from Michael Bay’s final Transformers plan that helped save the franchise to ensure the series would continue after he stopped directing the installments.
7 Optimus Prime & The Autobots Lose The War for Cybertron
The very beginning of Bumblebee helps shape the new Transformers movie franchise story, as the opening minutes are dedicated to the War for Cybertron. Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are shown leading the Autobots in the war against the Decepticons. The tide of the war appeared to change once Shockwave arrived and commanded Starscream, Soundwave, and others to advance in their attacks on the Autobots. This forced Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Arcee, Ironhide, Ratchet, and others to retreat and head to escape pods. With the War for Cybertron lost, Optimus Prime gives Bumblebee orders to help ensure the Autobots’ future and safety.
6 Bumblebee Travels To Earth & Meets Charlie Watson
Bumblebee’s mission in the Transformers movie story is to travel to Earth and keep the planet safe so it can be a place for the Autobots to regroup. A fight with the Decepticon Blitzwing that occurs shortly after his arrival leaves him unable to speak and his memory cells offline. This leaves Bumblebee to transform into a Volkswagen Beetle until Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) finds him in a junkyard. She convinces the owner to let her take the car as a birthday present if she can get it to start, not knowing that the car she wants is secretly a robotic alien.
5 Agent Burns & Sector 7 Learn About The Existence of Transformers
The other important piece of the Transformers franchise story that occurs upon Bumblebee’s arrival on Earth is when Agent Burns (John Cena) and Sector 7 learn about the existence of Transformers. Whereas Michael Bay’s movies gave Sector 7 a history with Transformers that goes back much further than 1987, Bumblebee makes a chance encounter between Burns’ Sector 7 team and B-127 the new first encounter. Sector 7 repeats some of the group’s previous mistakes by trying to utilize Decepticon technology to help themselves, but working with Dropkick and Shatter unsurprisingly backfires. Still, the beginning of Sector 7’s Transformers fascination is a key part of the Transformers movies’ story recap.
4 Bumblebee & Charlie Stop The Decepticons Plan
Dropkick and Shatter are Bumblebee‘s primary Decepticon villains, as they come to Earth to try and learn about Optimus Prime’s plan for the Autobots’ retaliation. Once they discover that the Autobots’ leader plans to send all remaining members to Earth to regroup, they hatch a plan to alert the entire Decepticon army so they can beat them to the punch. This plan leaves Bumblebee and Charlie to try and stop them from sending their message by destroying the relay. Bumblebee is ultimately responsible for killing Dropkick and Shatter in two separate fights, while Charlie climbs the relay to disconnect the signal.
3 Charlie Says Goodbye To Bumblebee After Saving The World
Bumblebee‘s ending is where Charlie and Bumblebee’s story comes to an end, as the two say goodbye and go their separate ways. Charlie knows that she cannot go with Bumblebee on more missions and needs to stay with her family. While they only spent a short time together, they each had a tremendous impact on the other. The way the movie concludes their story explains why Hailee Steinfeld does not return in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, as there is no clear reason why she would need to get back involved in the action.
2 Optimus Prime Meets Bumblebee On Earth & Calls More Autobots
The very end of Bumblebee is an important part of the Transformers franchise’s story recap now, as this is where Optimus Prime comes to Earth for the first time. He and Bumblebee are shown driving side by side on the Golden Gate Bridge during the final moments of the movie. They are then featured in their full G1 designs walking through the forest as Optimus congratulates Bumblebee on a job well done. This allows more Autobots to come to Earth for refuge, as the movie delivers a final tease that seven more Autobots are arriving. This could be important as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts introduces Mirage, Arcee, and others.
1 Bumblebee Is The Only Transformers Movie To Rewatch Before Rise of the Beasts
There might be six entries in the franchise released before Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, but Bumblebee is the only one that needs to be rewatched before. Michael Bay’s five Transformers movies are no longer considered canon, as made clear by the franchise’s decision to undo Transformers: The Last Knight‘s Unicron reveal and use the villain again. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts takes place a few years after Bumblebee and continues the use of the characters’ G1 designs. Even if the human characters are not returning, Bumblebee sets up the new universe that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts explores further and is certainly worth rewatching.
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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
