Transformers: Rise of the Beasts trailer is Endgame with (only) robots

The seventh movie pitting Autobots against various human and mechanical enemies will be here next summer, and it’s gone feral. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts follows 2018’s Bumblebee, not as a sequel but as a new front in the cinematic battle for galactic domination. Partly taken from the cartoon’s Beast Wars storyline, the secondary good guys are Maximals, transformers that turn into animals. The bad guys come from a different cartoon storyline — not that continuity matters here, because the Transformers’ universe is just as convoluted as Marvel — and they’re called Terrorcons. Instead of turning into dinosaur-like creatures from the cartoon, Terrorcons turn into cars and a semi.

The action takes place in 1994, sometime after August 8 of that year based on the soundtrack. Based on the Wikipedia page, the flick will pit ten good guys against four Terrorcons (but that’s certainly preliminary info). Based on the trailer, these two minutes make the movie look like a 90-minute version of the final fight from Avengers: Endgame. This one’s for the robots, clearly, with Optimus Prime (as either Captain America or Iron Man) called on to face enemies from his past and future, whatever that means. The humans in the trailer are props; two of the four main biological characters each get one line, both being punchlines in reaction to what Autobots are doing.

Future trailers will tell us more. For now, if you like giant machines making giant explosions and giant destruction, enjoy.