The law of diminishing box office returns and critical reactions that characterized the Michael Bay era was arrested somewhat by the best-reviewed but lowest-grossing Bumblebee, yet there’s no denying that Paramount absolutely need next summer’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts to hit very big.
Having recently gone zero-for-three on G.I. Joe when Snake Eyes flopped hard, if the seventh outing for the Autobots and Decepticons doesn’t live up to expectations, then the studio will be running desperately low on lucrative franchises not named Mission: Impossible.
Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. is helming Rise of the Beasts, which occupies the middle ground between Bumblebee and Bay’s Transformers by taking place in the 1990s, throwing the fan favorite Beast Wars mythology into the mix for good measure. Star Anthony Ramos has now revealed the first official look at the movie’s robots in disguise, which you can see below.
The Autobots are comprised of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Mirage, Arcee and Wheeljack, with the Decepticon contingent represented by Scourge, Nightbird and a mysterious third vehicle. Plot details remain firmly under wraps for now, but we’re only eight months away from Transformers: Rise of the Beasts coming to theaters, and it’ll need to get audiences back on side quickly to erase any concerns over franchise fatigue.