Bumblebee The Bumblebee Spin-Off Official Thread

[Pennywise]

If you're expecting the upcoming Bumblebee to look and feel like another chapter in Michael Bay's long-running Transformers series, you're in for a bit of a shock. The cast and director came to San Diego Comic-Con to show off new pieces of their film and made it clear it's far more inspired by the 1980s cartoon than the previous live-action films.

That was evident from the beginning when Stan Bush took the Hall H stage with an electric guitar for a live performance of "The Touch" from 1986's The Transformers: The Movie. From there, director Travis Knight let fans know that the designs for the Transformers are taken from the first generations of the characters, rather than what's been seen in the other movies.

While Bumblebee transforms into a Volkswagen Beetle, the movie's villains--Nightbird and Dropkick--are triple changers. They can become not only muscle cars but flying vehicles. Additionally, director Travis Knight had some bad news for the audience regarding the other Decepticon seen in the movie's first trailer. That jet isn't Starscream, folks. Instead, it's Blitzwing, a G1 Transformers character that first appeared in 1985.

So why use Blitzwing instead of Starscream? "All will be revealed when you see the film," Knight teased.

An extended look at the movies was also shown, giving fans a very detailed look at the characters and some of the story on display in Bumblebee. The first half of the footage saw Bee on the run from the military--led by John Cena's Agent Burns--as they tried to gun him down. That's when Blitzwing arrives on the scene, attempting to kill the yellow Autobot himself. In the end, Blitz throws Bee off a cliff, seemingly to his death.

Instead, though, the extremely damaged bot turned into a beat-up up Volkswagen Beetle, which is found sometime later by Hailee Steinfeld's character Charlie Watson. "We meet Charlie as your sort of misunderstood typical teenager," Steinfeld said of her character. "She's trying to find that freedom that she craves." She's also coping with a major loss in her life, which leads her to seeing Bumblebee as a possible escape. Of course, this is still a Transformers movie and the two--along with Charlie's friend Memo (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.)--are now simply trying to survive as both humans and robots chase them down.

What was especially interesting about the footage was how it differs from the action scenes seen in Michael Bay's previous Transformers entries. With far fewer actual Transformers on-screen, it is able to skirt becoming so busy that it's hard to figure out what's going on. Simplifying the story and the character roster allows room for the action to breathe and, as a result, feel more impactful.

Just as impactful was a quick shot of a very familiar hologram. While it hasn't been confirmed whether Optimus Prime will appear in the film, an image of Prime with a design much closer to his G1 look is shown, leaving fans wondering if it's possible. As an added surprise, longtime Optimus Prime voice actor Peter Cullen appeared at the panel to ask when Optimus will get his own movie. What this means for Prime's role in Bumblebee remains to be seen, but it's entirely possible he'll appear at some point.

Perhaps it won't be on Earth, though. After a little prodding, Knight dropped one more bomb. This movie will visit Cybertron, the home planet of the Transformers. "We see Cybertron and let me say it is awesome," he teased.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/comic-con-new-bumblebee-video-shows-classic-design/1100-6460612/

Optimus looking closer to G1!!!

 

[terry78]

Blitzwing huh?

 

[StarLord]

 

[Ipodman]

it actual is

Has this been confirmed? It still looks like a prequel to me...

Would be cool if this turns out to be a reboot

 

[samsnee]

I think it’s technically a prequel but prob will be a soft reboot. Considering the first Transformers was supposed to be Transformers’ first real interactions with humans, but then apparently in Last Knight we learn they also hunted Nazis, best to just throw it all in the garbage.

 

[2kt09]

[YT]LpSCmD8dyGs[/YT]

and then something about 1913 is when they built the facility around the cube.

 

[Dr Lee]

no new trailer/footage released i take it?

 

[Nathan]

This whole Blitzwing confirmation is really disappointing.

 

[Dr Lee]

Why?

 

[Nathan]

It's not because I didn't want to see Blitzwing. But they clearly went out of their way to make him look like G1 Starscream. So they build up expectations, only to come out and say "So yeah, that character in the Movie, that looks the most faithful to his early G1 days, even more than Bumblebee? Yeah, that's not Starscream, that's that other Deception fella over here."

That's like coming out and revealing that Bumblebee is in actuality Cliffjumper. Like, what's the point of making them look like their G1 designs, if you just switch names around as you please?

 

[StarLord]

Eh I'm fine with it and I think there's more to it.

At around 16:20 when Travis announces it's not Starscream, the audience goes ''awwwww'' but he says ''I know, I know, all will be revealed when you see the film''.

[YT]GModKzeA9f4[/YT]

 

[terry78]

Blitzwing becomes Starscream or some **** lol.

 

[StarLord]

There's no word on Megatron appearing, so it could be Starscream that's barking the orders in the meantime. There might be a scene where he tells Blitzwing, Shatter and Dropkick to go down to Earth to destroy Bee.

 

[Nathan]

So Blitzwing, one of the few Deceptions who had a unique and original design, is turned into a Seeker. Instead of, you know, using an actual Seeker type Decepticon.

 

[StarLord]

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind. I just don't think it's worth worrying about.

Remember the first Dark of the Moon trailer where Sentinel was gold?

 

[Nathan]

To be fair, I stopped caring about the Bay Movies after Revenge of the Fallen. They could have made Prime green and purple and I wouldn't have cared.

 

[2kt09]

So Blitzwing, one of the few Deceptions who had a unique and original design, is turned into a Seeker.

I thought his gimmick was more unique and original than his design. Dunno if he had a split-personality in the G1 series, but that's what I recall from Animated. He's only a few details away from another color swapped Starscream.

Either way, this means the tank & jet mode will pop up here.

 

[Lone]

Hoping this is a reboot of sorts just so we can get a faithful rendition of the Transformers designs this time around. No more insectoid looking mother****ers.

 

[terry78]

Except for the Insecticons.

 

[Lone]

Except for the Insecticons.

t:

 

[Brutikus]

Eh I'm fine with it and I think there's more to it.

At around 16:20 when Travis announces it's not Starscream, the audience goes ''awwwww'' but he says ''I know, I know, all will be revealed when you see the film''.

[YT]GModKzeA9f4[/YT]

Hopefully yes more to it.

Glad to hear that G1 is being more drawn on and also Cybertron being seen....

Yes pleasse.

 

[Ipodman]

His full name is Blitzwing Starscream Thundercracker

 

[Brutikus]

Cybertronian birth certificate - cool t:

 

[Jochimus]

Eh I'm fine with it and I think there's more to it.

At around 16:20 when Travis announces it's not Starscream, the audience goes ''awwwww'' but he says ''I know, I know, all will be revealed when you see the film''.

[YT]GModKzeA9f4[/YT]

I have a weird theory. Which will probably be wrong, but anyway...

I wonder if maybe they haven't pulled a page from "Transformers Animated" and given him a multiple-personality characterization...or better yet, incorporated a bit of Makeshift from "Transformers Prime" and given him the ability to impersonate other Transformers on top of that.

Aside from having at least a little bit of precedent in the movies already (Laserbeak posing as a pink Bumblebee in DOTM), giving Blitzwing an erratic mind AND the ability to impersonate other robots might explain why he doesn't look QUITE like the Movie version of Starscream. Also, it's possible he could be working at cross-purposes to Shatter and Dropkick (if he IS bonkers, maybe he's some kind of asylum escapee?), in which case impersonating a senior Decepticon might actually be helpful. Plus, since Hasbro isn't really able to manage triple-changers in the toy lines for the movies (Drift had to get separate toys for both his car and helicopter modes, and Shatter and Dropkick's toys at SDCC clearly looked the same way), they could probably just shill figures of the other robots he impersonates and call it good.

 

[TheVileOne]

Why is it so hard to do things the right way?