Metro.us has an article on the current state of the Transformers franchise on the big screen, in which producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura offers several thoughts about the future.

“We actually have an animated movie in the works that will tell the whole Cybertron mythology. The fans will love that,” diBonaventura teases. “We’re trying to figure out an [Optimus Prime solo movie].”

However, diBonaventura admits that trying to create an Optimus Prime solo movie will be rather tricky.

“It will be hard with Optimus, he is always right, very stoic and is a man of few words … It is kind of like saying, ‘Lets do a movie about Obi-Wan Kenobi?’ But how much is there to say about Obi-Wan? It is not so easy.”

Read the rest of the article here.

It didn’t take long for details to emerge about the forthcoming new Transformers comic book series, once again published by IDW. It will go back to before the war ever began and explore the road to the conflict.

The war between Autobots and Decepticons will start all over again in 2019, but IDW Publishing’s ambitious Transformers comic book relaunch is, fittingly, more than meets the eye — expanding the franchise in new directions by revealing the origins of the conflict that traveled from Cybertron to Earth and beyond.

The new series, titled simply Transformers, will see writer Brian Ruckley and artists Angel Hernandez and Ron Joseph tell the story of Cybertron before the war, and of the mysterious death that ended an age of peace on the planet. Bumblebee, soon to star in his own movie, will be one of the protagonists of the new title, which will publish twice a month.

“We are eager to begin this new chapter in Transformers storytelling,” Michael Kelly, Hasbro’s vp global publishing, said in a statement about the new series. “We are excited to begin a tale that will be accessible and appealing to readers unfamiliar with Transformers lore, while still providing the depth and drama that our longtime fans expect. It’s a big responsibility, but we’ve got the right team and the right characters to do it.”

The remainder of the article can be read at the Hollywood Reporter website.

Another article, along with larger images of the covers, can be found at CBR.com.

Thanks to TFW2005 for the following report. It’s possible that the next Wal-Mart G1 reissue with be Optimus Prime, without his trailer, interestingly. The report came from the Transformers Never Die Facebook group, who shared the image from the 22nd Bahamut Gamer Party 2018. Further facts will be needed to determine if this reissue is headed for the United States or not, but in the meantime this is a very nice possibility for the Transformer collector.

Addition: new pictures available here.

Free Comic Book Day interviewed John Barber and Alex Milne about the upcoming Unicron comic from IDW.

John Barber: This is the end of the story we’ve been telling for over a decade. The IDW Transformers comics are the longest-lasting iteration Transformers characters ever—there’s more fiction in this universe than anywhere else in the history of the brand—and it all comes crashing down with Transformers: Unicron.

The question of what Unicron is—of what could be so big as to threaten all of reality—is central to the story. Everybody writing Transformers comics right now got together to figure out how to pull this off—me, James Roberts, Mairghread Scott, Nick Roche, plus the great editorial teams at IDW and Hasbro, and I think we’ve made something with depth, action, pathos, tragedy, and—maybe, if the Transformers are lucky—ultimately some triumph.

Alex Milne: I feel it’s the biggest story due to the stake being so high. It’s not just the Transformers and Cybertron that have to worry about Unicron, but the Earth and the other colony worlds as well. It really is something that affects this shared universe that IDW has created. Unicron is the destroyer of worlds, and not everyone will survive this encounter. Will out heroes even be able to stop him? I guess you’ll have to read to find out.

Read the entire interview here.

Courtesy of Empire online.

New Empire day continues with this exclusive still from Transformersspin-off Bumblebee. Hailee Steinfeld is the latest sidekick for the vocally challenged, heroic Autobot. Bumblebee himself, meanwhile, is no longer the other movies’ Chevy Camaro, but a VW Beetle, as he was in the original cartoons.

(…more)

Destructoid.com has some bad news to report if you’re a Transformers gaming fan:

Today marked the beginning of Steam’s Winter Sale and that means folks are poking around to potentially give older games a second chance now that they’re discounted. With that in mind, I hope you weren’t in the mood for Transformers over the holiday break. You’re going to come up empty-handed.

Transformers: War for Cybertron, Fall of Cybertron, Rise of the Dark Spark, and Devastation are no longer available for purchase on Steam, and that also goes for their DLC packs. What’s more, we’ve lost out on another (albeit much less fondly remembered) game from Platinum: The Legend of Korra.

These games have also vanished from PlayStation Network but, at the time of writing, are still available for purchase on Xbox Live. That said, it’s surely only a matter of time if this is a licensing issue.

It’s a shame Activision didn’t give an advance notice.

The latest episode of Titans Return, entitled “At the Last Second” can be found here.

Megatron uncovers a sinister plan after finding Mistress of Flame close to death, thanks to Overlord. Meanwhile, Hot Rod tries to rescue the Titan Master from inside Trypticon.

Past episodes have already been posted on the Go90 website.

Episode 3, The Fight Begins

Episode 4, Overlord and Emissary

 

Thanks to Loopaza Mega Store for sharing images of the upcoming Masterpiece Dinobot from Figure King #238 on their Facebook page. The photos give us a useful size comparison with the other Masterpiece Beast Wars figures, as well as a good look at all the accessories that will be available with this very show-accurate figure.

This month’s Figure King of Transformers covering the full details of coming up Masterpiece MP-41 Beast Wars Dinobot, fully transforms between Robot and Beast mode, with 2 color LED lighting effect on his eyes and more.

We won’t be seeing that Barbie/Transformers crossover just yet.

Mattel Inc has rebuffed Hasbro Inc’s latest takeover approach, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, casting uncertainty over the potential combination of the world’s two largest toy companies.

Mattel’s rebuttal indicates that Margaret Georgiadis, who took over as the company’s chief executive in February, is seeking to drive a hard bargain in negotiations with Hasbro, even though Mattel’s stock has significantly underperformed that of Hasbro in the last year.

Mattel has informed Hasbro its proposal undervalues the company and does not take sufficiently into account the potential for regulators to reject the deal based on antitrust concerns, the sources said.

The terms Hasbro has proposed could not be learned, and it is not clear whether negotiations between the two companies will continue. The companies have engaged in multiple rounds of deal talks over the last two decades.

Read the rest of the article here.

Collider.com has posted an interview with the legendary Peter Cullen, the original voice of G1 Optimus Prime, as well as the live action movies, Transformers Prime, and now Titans Return. In addition, Mr. Cullen answers some fan questions from Twitter as well.

What is one thing you look for in an offer to play Optimus Prime that makes you say, “Yes”?

Peter Cullen: It’d be no surprise to say that [it’s] the consistency of the character. As long as the character is the original, then it’s a go. If it varies from it, without good reason or explanation, then I would … I’ve never had to say, “No,” but I would if it didn’t meet those prerogatives.

What are the core values that make up Optimus Prime?

Cullen: Originally, the character stood out for his very demonstrative sense of trustworthiness and leadership qualities that were deeply embedded into this steel body, for one reason or another. It was the qualities of human leadership within that character, and they were all there: Strength, honesty, nobility, trustworthiness, a wonderful sense of courage that is not egotistical courage, it’s more of a giving courage, a caring courage. Those qualities really stood out back then.

Read the rest of the interview here.