Transformers: Rise of the Beasts – The Maximals are set to make their big-screen debut

Hard-core fans of the Transformers animated TV show will be aware that the Autobots and Decepticons are not the only inhabitants of Cybertron that have made earth their new home. Audiences who have only tuned in to the live-action big screen movies, got an inkling that there’s more to Cybertron when the Dinobots were introduced in Transformers: Age of Extinction and Transformers: The Last Knight. Turns out, there are even more out there and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which opens in theatres this week, will present them.

Called The Maximals, these animal-shaped descendants of Autobots, will fight alongside the latter, as a new threat, Unicron, looms large. Directed by Steven Caple Jr, the new film is set in the 90s, a few years after the events of Bumblebee. In the run-up to the film’s global release, Paramount Studios has been releasing video featurettes about pivotal elements of the franchise, like, for instance, Peter Cullen being the voice of Autobot leader Optimus Prime for nearly 40 years, and the latest, a quick introduction to the Maximals.

“We’ve seen the Maximals in graphic novels and cartoons, but we’ve never seen them in live-action,” says Steven, as the video then cuts to a visual of the ape-like Optimus Primal, voiced by Ron Perlman, saying, “There’s more to us than meets the eye.” The film will also feature falcon-like Airazor (Michelle Yeoh) for who the sky is the domain, Rhinox (David Sobolov) – a beast that’s almost indestructible and Cheetor (Tongayi Chirisa) – the swiftest of all beasts. Together, the Autobots and Maximals will roll out to fight new nemesis Scourge, who is hell-bent on opening a portal for Unicron, the dark god that devours planets.

Also on the list of voice actors are Cristo Fernandez (Ted Lasso’s Dani Rojas), Pete Davidson, Peter Dinklage, John DiMaggio and Colman Domingo, among others.