Out of all the franchises that had not until recently been a part of an expanded cinematic universe, the only one I can really understand having one is Transformers. There's so much lore from so many different incarnations, and new things are always being added, so it shouldn't be that surprising that Transformers is getting more room to grow on the big screen. There have been a few new developments that I find very interesting, and being as big of a fan of Transformers that I am, I'm simply bursting to share this news with people.
First, here's what we already know- we know that Paramount has hired Akiva Goldsman to be the guy in charge of the expanded TF universe. He's an accomplished writer and producer, and being tasked to be the head of a project like this is 1: no easy task, and 2: a job I REALLY want anyway. We also know that along with a 5th main installment, there will be a couple spinoffs. We know that there is a huge team of writers being formed as we speak to tackle and create something that is much more than what the previous films were.
As much as I like the movies that have been released so far, I can definitely see the flaws in them. They are flawed movies, and to see new writers try something together is a really exciting and interesting thing. Who is this brave team of writers? It consists of:
Robert Kirkman- Best known for creating The Walking Dead, this comic book writer will hopefully use his talents to bring something new to the table. Transformers lore started out with the comics in 1984, so why wouldn't Paramount want someone with experience in that field working on their Transformers films? Especially one who created something like The Walking Dead. I can definitely see a bit of star power being skillfully used with the formation of this team.
Art Marcum and Matt Holloway- These guys co-wrote the first Iron Man movie. These guys seemed to know what they were doing with the first Iron Man movie (really well, too), so I have complete confidence in them. Another smart move by Paramount, hiring writers that have experience with cinematic universes.
Zak Penn- Mr. Penn has also helped out in the writing of a couple movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as The Incredible Hulk and Avengers. Currently, he's also writing Pacific Rim 2, a movie that I am extremely excited for.
Jeff Pinkner- One of the writers for Fringe, a television series, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. If anything, I can guess that whichever movie he writes will have WAY too many main villain characters... if anyone gets the Spider-Man related joke.
Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari- These two are the writers for the upcoming Ant-Man film. I... don't really know much more about them than that.
As far as I've researched, this is a team of 8 strong writers, and hopefully they'll be doing their best, giving it their greatest effort to bring credibility back to Transformers. I love these movies, and given that the last two Transformers movies BOTH made over $1 billion worldwide, I think other people might like them as well. Or people just go see movies that they don't like. Whatever the case, the critical response, and general opinions of these movies is less than favorable. Honestly, I don't think anyone should really care what 'critics' have to say, but it would be nice for the general public to have a more positive view on Transformers. (I know, how dare I want a Hollywood production to be... successful!?)
With Ehren Kruger out of the writer's seat, and Michael Bay hopefully not being as closely involved, I think it's safe to say that the future of these movies could start looking a lot brighter. In fact... it's starting to look significantly brighter.
As far as I've seen in my digging, there are at least two more movies that have at least been conceptualized by now. They're far enough into development, albeit extremely early, to release info as concrete as this. One of the films will be centered around Bumblebee. If it actually focuses on Bumblebee instead of his human friends, that would be awesome! Hopefully whoever is writing it will be able to see that it's the smartest route. However, I am a little hesitant on this one, and for one reason: We've seen Bumblebee already. He's been in all 4 films, he's been a main character in 3 different animated shows since the films began, he's had toys out the ass, repaints of those toys, slight remolds of those toys, an overblown marketing campaign, and is without a doubt the most overrated Transformers character ever. If you ask me, we do not need anymore Bumblebee. We need Hound, the Dinobots, the Aerialbots, the Protectobots, Kup, Springer, Hot Rod, Ultra Magnus, Blaster, and maybe a few others! We need characters we haven't seen before on the big screen. Not Bumblebee.
As much as I am hesitant on the idea of a Bumblebee film, I know I'll go see it anyway. I have to give it a chance, right?
The other film that's recently been told about is a LOT more promising and is something that I will not hesitate to see whatsoever. If this is true, and according to several sources, it's in the works now, one of the future Transformers movies will be a prequel- an origin story- on Cybertron!!! The Transformers' home planet! This means that there will absolutely, positively, no question about it, no doubt, without argument, no chance of it ever happening, no hope, no possibility of human beings being in this film at all whatsoever! Any fan of any version of Transformers can agree that humans always ruin everything, so the hope of not a single member of our species being on screen in a TF movie is something that I am entirely in favor of.
I am very much hoping that these writers are smart enough to realize that fans and moviegoers just want a film about Transformers to focus on the Transformers. It's a plea that may finally be heard, and the fact that even rumors of an origin story taking place on Cybertron is a sign that our wishes may come true. This is a HUGE step in the right direction.
There's still a few years to go before we see any true progress on these movies, so all we can do now is wait. I'm still looking forward to the continuation of the main story, which we saw was left open at the end of Age of Extinction. What is Optimus Prime going to find during his travels in space? Does he find the Creators? Will the continuity be saved, or will stuff get retconned? And will all those idiots on "news" websites quit wondering if Megan Fox or Shia Leboeuf will return?! These are all questions we should be asking right now. These are questions that I will continue asking for a while. As of the time I post this, I will be committed to finding whatever updates I can and reporting them on this blog. Do not expect these update posts very often, because I will only post about significant developments that come up in the future. It's a future that I'm looking forward to.
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