What the Transformers Movie Reboot Universe Need to Make it Better than the Bay-Era Movies.

The Micheal Bay movie series saw five films and met mixed reviews the further down the line the story went. But when Bumblebee hit theatres and saw high praise and great reviews, it caused for a new change in the films place within the Transformers films. Rather than being a prequel, as originally planned, it was decided to change it to the start of a rebooted movie franchise. With it now all set and a new series of films to spring from it, we will look at what the new franchise needs to be a success for fans both old and new.

Keep to Designs that Resemble the Transformers

Micheal Bay had ambition with his designs for the bots in his films. However, the majority of his designs completely changed how the characters have ever been depicted. While Autobots and Decepticons have undergone changes from incarnation to incarnation, fans have never been more divided when it comes to the designs Micheal Bay produced.

How he treated many beloved characters has annoyed many fans. One prime example is his use of Arcee, Elita-1 and Chromia. Three of the best know female bots that where really downgraded for his films. Their screen time was short-lived and all three were killed in their debut movie. We have even seen personalities drastically changed and in many cases which turned into something fans have disliked. The Dinobots for example, being altered from their loveable simple ways of thinking into ancient beastly Transformers.

However, in Bumblebee, fans were given Autobots and Decepticons they instantly recognised. In a short 5 minute scene they were treated to more Transformers that were recognisable than in 5 of Micheal Bay's movies. Fans are praying for this to be carried through into the future films. With how highly that one scene was praised, the creatives behind the films have hopefully listened and will keep to the looks we recognise.

More Transformers Taking Centre Stage

One of the biggest criticism Micheal Bay's films received is how the Transformers took a secondary role in the films. They are not really the main characters, instead the narrative of the movies is driven forward by the human characters. This meant many fans were disappointed when they went to see a Transformers movie and instead spent more time watching Shia LaBeouf running around and screaming for his life.

Bumblebee however, succeeding in bringing the Transformers more into the frame. The human characters were not pushing the story forward, instead they were simply caught up in the conflict that had arrived on Earth. Bumblebee had a lot development and emotions, especially with losing his voice box and him learning to communicate through his radio. He also formed a bond with Charlie, akin to his bond with Spike from the original series. Even the villainous Decepticon duo of Shatter and Dropkick had defined personalities and were shown to be strategic and cunning.

If they continue with what they did in Bumblebee, it is safe to say we will actually get to know the Transformers this time around. Outside of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Megatron, the Bay era of bots were all background fillers. If they were lucky they would get a shining moment in a battle, but be blasted into bits before the finale. Hopefully, this treatment of the Autobots and Decepticons is over, and fans can actually get to know the live-action versions of their favourite bots.

Use Established Lure and Mythology from Transformers Fans Like

With so many incarnations of the Transformers in various TV shows, movies and comics, there is a rich amount of history and fables for them to draw from. Micheal Bay himself created one such item of mysticism and lure in the All Spark. Since it's debut in his movie the All Spark has been reused and redeveloped in other series and media. However, he also ruined other aspects, such as the Creators and Unicron.

Bumblebee played it pretty safe with this. Rather than bringing in some mythical Cybertronian artefact or some part of Transformers history to play a major plot point, it instead kept it simple. Instead we witnessed some of the Autobots evacuating Cybertron and Bumblebee acting as an advanced scout to Earth. This was perhaps the smartest way to go, as rather than worrying about some complex story, it was simply a film to showcase and introduce the characters. When you look at other films that have created successful universes, they have done the same. Avengers for example saw a simple storyline for the first film, but by the third and forth had become more complex and intricate.

Now the groundwork has been laid, hopefully the next film will simply add more characters and start to bring lure into a live-action format that fans can enjoy. The 13 Primes is one highly popular part of Transformers history and is now used in many formats of Transformers. But if they do use the 13 Primes they have to include the fate of Solus Prime, as it is a key point in the 13s' history. Another popular option would be leading to a Unicron confrontation. But they need to go back to Unicron being a giant planet eating Transformer, as this is the Unicron fans long to see on the big screen.

Use Newer Transformers Over Originals for a Movie

One thing Micheal Bay did in practically every movie was create his own Transformers. These bots would have nothing to do with already existing Transformers, but he would also take existing Transformers and use them as inspiration for his own variant. These versions of the bots would have their names and personalities changed to fit Bay's vision. These live-action bots have never been really embraced by the fans.

However, the original Decepticons of Shatter and Dropkick created for Bumblebee saw fans quickly embrace them. This comes down to them actually having decent screen time and being able to show their personalities. So, this is not to say new original characters could not work. But there are already so many newer Transformers that are widely unknown to the masses.

One area that has recently seen a greater increase in Transformers is female Transformers. More female bots is clearly something fans want, as both Windblade the City Speaker and Victorion the combiner were both voted to be created by the fans. There has even been a new Dinobot created in recent years, the Velociraptor Dinobot known as Slash. There have been plenty of newer Transformers to have been created in both toys and comic form in recent year. So hopefully the new movie can introduce some of these characters and allow them time to shine rather than creating more originals.

Expand the Film Universe

The Bay era of films told a pretty linear story and kept within its own realm of comfort. This almost made it afraid to branch out into other areas of Transformers. Even more tragically, when it did try, it failed. Pretty much no one was happy with the ambiguous treatment of Quintessa or the claim of Transformer Knights mixing with medieval man. If Bay had been more ambitious, he could have created a universe to expand on his ideas to aid in fans accepting them.

Already mentioned is the 13 Primes, who extend the past of Transformers and already give one option for a feature film. But other shows have delved in the opposite direction. The highly praise Beast Wars took fans to the Transformers future and Earth's past where the Maximals and Predacons are the defendants of the Autobots and Maximals and the fight for survival has evolved. Rather than assuming automobiles as a form of disguise they turn into animals, and rather than a civil war, the Predacons aim to alter the past to change how the war of their ancestors played out. A final option would be a film looking at the elite team of Autobots known as the Wreckers who take on extreme missions.

It is part of the reason the Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen such success. The stories are able to stretch across different decades, take place in a multitude of places and can cross characters between them. If Transformers can capitalise on this idea themselves, they could create quite the universe with many corners of lure and story to explore and expose to audiences.

Transform and Roll Out to a New Victory

With any luck, the creatives behind the future of Transformers have taken note of what fans liked and what they want for the new film franchise. Transformers is a franchise with nearly 40 years of history and the fans have many aspects through the years they hold dear. So, unlike Micheal Bay, here is hoping the Transformers film franchise is in hands of people that will honour the characters and please the fans.

What do you want to see in the new film universe? Do you agree with our choices?