‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Super Bowl Trailer Introduces New Autobot

The first full-length trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts showed fans a jaw-dropping showdown before the Super Bowl itself even kicked off. Rise of the Beasts is the long-awaited soft reboot of the live-action Transformers film franchise, and it introduces characters from the Beast Wars storyline explored on TV and in comic books. Judging by this preview, it won’t disappoint.

While some companies and media franchises set up elaborate Super Bowl ads and campaigns well in advance, Transformers was relatively straightforward. The franchise announced that a new trailer would premiere “right before kickoff” in partnership with Porsche, and so it did. Eager football fans around the country were watching as the full-length trailer played just before 6:30 p.m. ET, showing fans the wild side of the aliens from Cybertron.

Rise of the Beasts breaks a long silent streak for the Transformers film franchise, and for many casual fans, this is probably the first they are hearing of it. While it still lists Michael Bay as an executive producer, steer away from Bay’s infamous style, going more in the direction of 2018’s Bumblebee. At the same time, it isn’t a reboot – Rise of the Beasts is considered a stand-alone sequel to Bumblebee, which itself was a prequel meant to serve as a stylistic reboot if not a canonical one.

Rise of the Beasts was directed by Steven Caple Jr. and features an all-star cast, including the voices of Michelle Yeoh, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage and Pete Davidson as various Transformers. Longtime franchise star Peter Cullen will be back as the voice of Optimus Prime. Other voice over stars include John DiMaggio, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Cristo Fernández, Liza Koshy, Tobe Nwignwe and David Sobolov.

Rise of the Beasts is set in the year 1994 and follows human archaeologist Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback) and her ex-military escort Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos). After uncovering the buried secrets of Transfomers’ presence on earth, these two are whisked away on a globe-trotting adventure alongside Autobots and incorporating three other races of Transformers: Maximals, Predacons and Terrorcons.

These characters will not be familiar to the oldest generation of Transformers fans. The Maximals, Predacons and Terrorcons were introduced in the TV series Beast Wars: Transformers, which aired from 1996 to 1999. It used CGI animation that can be distracting for a re-watch, but the world-building elements it introduced have stood the test of time. This animal-themed side of the franchise continued on the TV shows Beast Machines, Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo, and in a series of video games. Beast Wars comic books have been published intermittently since then.

Rise of the Beasts will undoubtedly put its own spin on these characters just as the other movies have done. It premieres on June 9, 2023 only in theaters.