This long-awaited origin story of how the most iconic characters in Transformers mythos, Orion Pax and D-16, went from brothers-in-arms to sworn enemies as Optimus Prime and Megatron is finally being told on the big screen with Transformers One. Chris Hemsworth and Oscar nominee Brian Tyree Henry join the Transformers universe for the first time as Optimus and Megatron, respectively.
The most innovative aspect of the trailer was how it premiered–in space. A spacecraft was launched Thursday morning and continued with a live-streamed countdown showing the journey into space. After one hour, the craft peaked at 125,000 feet above the Earth, revealing the trailer. The event was simultaneously streamed from the Transformers Twitter account, the Paramount Pictures YouTube channel, and co-streamed by Chris Hemsworth on Instagram.
This is the only third theatrical movie with action on Cybertron and possibly will be the first to take place fully on the planet. Taking place before the Great War, the film has Orion Pax and D-16 as lowly waste management workers, which seems like a downgrade from Pax’s job as a data clerk. Pax and D-16 are soon joined by B-127 (the future Bumblebee, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) and Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson).
There are a lot of bits of lore that we’ve never seen in movies before, mainly Pax and company getting their T-Cogs (parts that activate their transformation abilities). There’s also an enemy force that look like a buffed-up version of Mecannibals. There’s also a quick shot of Starscream, Shockwave, and Soundwave–of course without their Decepticon brandishing.
Alongside the aforementioned cast there is Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion, the oldest Autobot and guardian of the Matrix of Leadership; Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, who isn’t seen in the trailer, but Transformers fans know his history with Optimus Prime; and Steve Buscemi in an undisclosed role.
Transformers One rolls out into theaters on September 24.
