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Takara's Transformers site has uplaoded new official images of MP 43 Beast Wars Megatron which also include clearer versions of the images we prviously saw in the Figure King magazine.
We get a good look at the T-Rex mode and how its eyes can move and also how the pupil can dissapear when used in robot mode.
We also get a full designer interview, which Google translated for us below. With the knowledge that the MSRP is above $300 USD, how many of you are still as excited as before? And have any of you chosen not to get him? The Japanese retailers, like site sponsor HLJ, usually have them for less (leaving the importing costs for you to handle), but how much less would he have to be for those of you still on the fence? Let us know!
Q. What was the background of the commercialization this time?
From the very beginning, when the decision to release Beast Wars in the masterpiece series came out, there was a concept itself. Actually, the size of the convoy was also calculated back from the megatron, as we have created comparison charts of major characters at the beginning of the development of the convoy. So, I think that the size of the overwhelming megatron in the symbolic scene that the convoy throws away is reproduced.
Q. What is the point of the product?
Since the current masterpiece is aiming for the reproducibility as if it comes out from the TV, it is necessary to include "to incorporate the talking gimmick", "to reproduce the shape of the middle of the play" To realize mobility beyond common sense "was the point. Megatron is a character that towed the popularity of the work with the talk part, so we recorded a total of 30 kinds of sounds. The voice also contains the multiplication with Black Widow and Navigator, but Ichi push is the reproduction of the opening of 13 episodes. Starting with the melody called Jahn, "Wahaha, I am the destroying great megatron, it is the beginning of the beast wow!" And recorded until the song started. As the sound effect enters firmly into the chorus part, I would like you to take it in hand, remembering the animation of that time and get depressed.
Q. What was the hardest part of development?
The obvious difference between the BW version of the toy at the time and the play was on the back. It was the most impressive place behind the head, so it was the most difficult point at how to show this like a play. Since you can not change the area of the dinosaur's gawa, it is hidden and reproduced by distributing with that hand. Even so, I have folded the leftover part on my back. Besides, BW version of toy at that time is changing for dinosaurs because of the circumstances that the knees are getting shorter, but in this masterpiece version we aim at a balance that does not feel discomfort in both dinosaurs and robots.
Q. What is the evolutionary point of the recent masterpiece series?
In order to reproduce it more thoroughly, it is possible to move to the place where you move the eyeball of the dinosaur mode. Since the head of the dinosaur mode is clogged with sound units, it has a minimum space-saving structure, but by making it movable, you can enjoy the change of facial expressions and the white eye condition of robot mode can be reproduced It is. In the fourth bulletin, the Destron Major corps destroyed megatron appeared, but I'd like to be able to arrange the main characters of Cybatron and Destron all together in a masterpiece, so please look forward to future developments as well.
Just recently, Anthony Brucale of TFU.info sat down to talk with Brian Volk-Weiss, the creator of everyone's favorite toy-history Netflix show The Toys That Made Us. Brucale served as Consulting Producer on the series, so has some interesting behind-the-scenes questions for Volk-Weiss along with more standard curiosities. Check out some highlights below, watch the full interview embedded beneath that, and discuss anything you find interesting on the Energon Pub Forums!
Reception of Season 2 overall: Even better than Season 1! More positive reviews, and no negative ones. The 'complaints' Volk-Weiss has noticed seem to be mostly wishes for even more content or depth, which he understands and sees it as a good thing that these are the biggest complaints about the new season.
Biggest challenge in making the Transformers episode? Some former Takara engineers were new to being interviewed, so that initial footage wasn't very good. According to Volk-Weiss many of them later grasped the idea better, and took their own initiative to re-shoot better interviews.
Why a lack of more "in-depth" material about Transformers?The Toys That Made Us aims for a "middle ground" sort of approach to their episodes; some things that fans might find interesting would lose non-fan viewers. This is why some things exciting to fans were glossed over, and why only Peter Cullen (arguably the most "iconic" Transformers actor) was interviewed for the episode.
Any cut material you wish you could've kept? The original cut for the Transformers episode was 90-100 minutes long, and among cut footage was an eight- to nine-minute segment on Beast Wars. Mentions of much of this cut material potentially being available on a DVD of the series, if/when that comes to pass.
An interview with Michael Bay was also filmed, but wasn't included in the final cut for various reasons, which Volk-Weiss can't elaborate on further (though he stresses that Bay was fantastic to talk to and nothing went wrong in the interview).
Season 3: Volk-Weiss hopes to end up getting to make around 20 episodes! The chances of, in those 20 episodes, coming back for another pass at a brand (like say, Transformers) are estimated at "0.001" but it's not impossible. Subjects for Season 3 will be revealed at The Toys That Made Us panel at San Diego Comic-Con... it's hinted that Power Rangers and Gundam may be among them!
Courtesy of comics journalism outlet Comics Beat, we have a lengthy interview piece with IDW Publishing's James Roberts, writer of Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light - along with co-writing Chaos Theory and Last Stand of the Wreckers - about the run about to end (if IDW schedules ever allow that to happen, that is) on this version of the narrative Cybertronian universe.
The full piece, which you can read here, touches on a number of topics, such as planning, storyline changes, particular character developments and cast handling, Tarn and Getaway, Conjunx endurae across the board, and the Scavengers! Read some highlights below, and join the discussion in the Energon Pub
With you planning so far ahead, did any of your long-term planning change along the way?
You know, I was all ready to say that the basic mytharc — that is, the overall shape of the story I set out to tell back in 2011 — has remained broadly the same, but now that I’m an issue away from the end, I don’t think that’s true. Megatron’s defection to the Autobots, which was something no one predicted back in the beginning, did change the course of the story in more ways than I imagined at the time. And I think he changed it for the better; it made for a richer, deeper story, and one that better explores the key themes of More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light: guilt, family, and forgiveness.
[...]
Are there any teases you can draw towards mysteries fans may not be keeping their eye on?
Well, I kind of refer you to my previous answer. The readers are so attentive, and they’re so used by now to my style of storytelling, that very few clues go unnoticed. In fact, what tends to happen is that non-clues get seized upon as evidence of an imaginary plot line that’s always, frustratingly, better than the one I’ve got planned.
I will say, however, that the finale is designed to answer all the questions that have been building up over the last seven years, including some that may have been forgotten about, or to which it appeared that the answers had already been given.
[...]
Is there anything you would like to add about the book?
Oh god, where to start? With regards to the last few issues specifically, I’ve really tried to deliver the finale that long-time readers deserve. It’s like our earlier season finales rolled into one and amplified. It’s huge, and it needs to be because this is where all those years of readers’ investment pay off. Characters get their moment to shine, or meet their end, and mysteries are finally, properly solved. The cast is absolutely huge, as is the scale – it really is like our version of Infinity War. And I’ll make no apologies – there’s a lot going on.
More generally, I’d like to say that for me, there will never be another book – or another creative journey – quite like More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light. As a Transformers fan back in the 80s/90s, this is the One Big Story that I always wanted to tell, and everything just fell into place at the right time. Best of all, it turns out there was a market for whatever it was MTMTE turned out to be: a silly, serious, funny-sad space opera sitcom about very ordinary, very extraordinary people.
Media and entertainment online publication Entertainment Weekly has posted a fairly sizeable piece on the upcoming Bumblebee movie from the Paramount live action Transformers universe, featuring some information we were already aware of, plus some new details via an interview with producer Lorenzo diBonaventura.
In the piece, which you can read in full here, they touch on the idea of moving back on the Bumblebee story, shifting gears into a more 'vulnerable' role and look with the Volswagen beetle car mode, the choice of script and human lead Charlie / Hailee Steinfeld, what it might mean for the future of the movie franchise, and what other characters we're to expect in the movie itself - three Decepticons in total, including the jet who may or may not be Starscream after all. Partnering with our own speculations about the possible success of this new venture, why not join the discussion too, and let us know what you make of this direction for the movies?
“That was probably the most hotly contested thing, simply because: ‘Wow …. um, and the Beetle can go fast? Ooookay,’” di Bonaventura says. “But I’ve screened [a rough cut] three times, and there has not been a single comment from the audience that they didn’t like the fact that we made it the Beetle. The warmth of it certainly helps us, but also, the sheer freshness of it is really fun.”
That shape creates the sense of an under dog, which is a good thing for a hero who is in a strange world, all by himself, trying to find a way home.
“Psychologically, you’re absolutely right,” di Bonaventura says. “It’s kind of funny. A metal guy made out of a Camaro, or Bumblebee … is one is weaker than the other? I don’t know, but it is how you feel. It is what your experience is of it, in a way.”
[...]
“It’s nice it’s changing,” di Bonaventura says, acknowledging that the Transformers films haven’t exactly delivered strong roles for women. “When we were debating it, the idea of a young girl seemed to us to be a real change in our direction.”
And Steinfeld proved to be the fearsome flesh-and-blood lead they needed. “I’m just amazed at how talented she is,” di Bonaventura says. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an actor never miss a beat for the entire shoot. It was crazy. We ended up ahead of schedule because she was just so on it all the time. We could move quicker.”
[...]
Another change was reducing the sheer number of robots-in-disguise featured in this movie. That allowed screenwriter Christina Hodson to focus on the bond between Charlie and Bumblebee and tell a coming-of-age story at the heart of this epic action adventure.
“She wrote a really beautiful script that really played into the emotion of the relationship of the two,” di Bonaventura says. “So looking at the movie from that perspective, we thought, we don’t want to overwhelm one Autobot with too many Decepticons. So he has three primary antagonists.”
Two others, who take the form of automobiles, are also being kept secret for now.
[...]
Right now, Bumblebee has to pull off his own film, though.
“If Bee’s successful, we can have a Bee 2, no doubt,” di Bonaventura. “We have a good sense of where a second movie would go. For me, the greatest thing that came out of the writer’s room was the sense that we could go in any number of directions. It opened up our minds to choices.”
And finally in comics news today, we have a lengthy interview with IDW Publishing writer John Barber, courtesy of Previews World's Vice Brusio, on the upcoming Unicron event in the Transformers comics - one that will bring the current narrative universe to an end, and Lost Light and Optimus Prime ongoing series with it.
The two touch upon a number of general points from the mini-series, including what it means for the comics in general, and the mythos of Unicron up to this point, plus what we're to expect from the event. The article also showcases the covers revealed so far by Alex Milne and James Raiz (see the latter's full piece here), so take a look below, and join the conversation in the Energon Pub!
Vince Brusio: The cover page for IDW’s section in the May PREVIEWS touts how Transformers: Unicron “marks the end of the Transformers universe as we know it.” That’s a bold statement. The history behind Transformers at IDW is considerable. New characters like Windblade have been introduced. Countless stories have been collected in trade paperback. And now we’re told it can all get wiped out? Can you give us some details on how Unicron is going to live up to such hype?
John Barber: This is going to be the conclusion to the story — and the universe — that IDW launched back with Transformers: Infiltration #0 in 2005. IDW and Hasbro still have plenty more to say with Transformers — don’t misunderstand that! — but for this particular history, it’s all over. Now — whether that history gets wiped out or gets a nice happy ending for everybody? That’s the part that is playing out in the Unicron event.
I’m incredibly proud of the work that’s been done on this universe. Simon Furman and EJ Su started it, and I’ve had a hand in it for over six years, working alongside Transformers greats like James Roberts, Mairghread Scott, Kei Zama, Jack Lawrence, Andrew Griffith, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Livio Ramondelli, Priscilla Tramontano, Brendan Cahill, Guido Guidi, Shane McCarthy, Nick Roche, and so many more. For me, I started writing Transformers: Robots in Disguise back in 2012. I’ve written more Transformers comics than I ever thought possible, and I loved every minute of it. Working on the same set of characters, the same universe, for so long has been the most rewarding creative experience of my life, and one I really doubt that I’ll ever be able to duplicate.
So, for me — and for Unicron artist Alex Milne, who’s been with Transformers longer than me — we both feel that if we’re going to do an ending for this, we’d best make the greatest ending we can.
[...]
Vince Brusio: An unlettered preview page is featured just below the cover of issue #1 in the May PREVIEWS solicitation. Tell us what we’re seeing on this page. How is it a window into understanding the consequences of this storyline?
John Barber: That’s page one from issue #1. In it, we see the legendary history of the great creator, Primus, and his opposite — Unicron, the Chaos-Bringer. These are characters that run deep in Transformers history — back to the original runs of the comic books and animated series. Over the years, in different media, Primus and Unicron have usually been portrayed as primal cosmic beings locked in an endless struggle. So, here, on this page, we’re seeing the legend — the story Cybertronians have passed down for millions and millions of years.
The thing is, now that Unicron is here, the facts don’t match the legend... so Optimus, Windblade, and Starscream are all asking the question, “How much of this is true and how much was just a bedtime story?"
[...]
John Barber: Ooooh, we did a lot of drafts. When we settled on doing Unicron, I got on the phone with James Roberts, Mairghread Scott, Nick Roche, and then-Transformers Editor (and still-good friend) Carlos Guzman, and we talked at length about the possibilities of the story. We had a lot of really good ideas, some of which worked, and some didn’t. We all wanted this to have meaning, and to have this even actually be about something — not just be empty spectacle. If you know the IDW Transformers comics, you know they’re about character first and foremost. We like to tackle big themes and big emotions, and it was important to all of us to keep that foregrounded. Which is a long way of saying that there’ve been a lot of drafts.
We’re about halfway through as I type this, so we’re pretty deep in. We’re double-shipping for the start of the event, but we’re back to regular schedule for the end, in something of an effort to not kill Alex, who is doing the work of his career here. And that is saying a lot!
Comics WebsiteThe Beat had the opportunity to sit down with the newly appointed Editor-In-Chief of IDW publishing and continuity master extraordinaire John Barber to talk about the upcoming Transformers: Unicron series, which saw it's issue #0 released this past Saturday at Free Comic Book Day. You can find a review of that issue HERE.
Over the course of the interview, Barber talks about his upcoming role in the IDW Transformers comics following the end of the current continuity, where he states that he will have a guiding hand involved with whatever new series is set to start. This is a comforting piece of news, seeing as how Barber has proven to be one of the best, if not the master of continuity. So while he may not be writing the new stories, he will be responsible for overseeing them.
You can check out the full interview by following the link above, and you can catch some of the content quoted below!
Alexander Jones: How do your new responsibilities as Editor-in-Chief effect your contributions to the Transformers franchise?
John Barber: My recent return to IDW as Editor-in-Chief won’t impact Unicron—I’m still writing the event (along with the Optimus Prime series) through to the end, and my excitement and commitment to this story could not be higher. But I’m also incredibly honored and excited to have the opportunity to take a guiding hand on where the Transformers comics from IDW and Hasbro go next—and on where we take all of IDW’s amazing comics. I’ve been at this job for about a week, and it’s been thrilling working with our partners. The future of IDW—and of comics—looks very, very bright. Unless a big metal planet eats the whole universe, but we’ll have to see how that goes.
.....
Jones: Why was Unicron chosen as the story to close out the current Transformers Universe?
Barber: Unicron is a really iconic piece of the Transformers mythos. If you’re old enough to have lived through the original Transformers cartoon in the 1980s, you remember what a massive, disruptive thing Unicron was in the movie. That movie was one of the most apocalyptic cartoons you were going to see as a kid in the 1980s—it was devastating watching those familiar characters die. And that’s intrinsically linked with Unicron—in my mind, at least—even though, as editor David Mariotte likes pointing out, Unicron didn’t really kill very many Transformers. He still ate whole planets!
Unicron is something we’ve thought about doing in the IDW universe for a long time but always held off. The time never felt right, and I think the chance to do something really big—something where genuinely anything can happen, and will—was a chance, really the first chance we’ve had, to do Unicron right.
Courtesy of Toon Boom and an interview they published with Robert Cullen, animator and founder of Boulder Media Studios - the Hasbro partner working on the upcoming animated series Rescue Bots Academy and Transformers: Cyberverse - we have a quick look at the two designs for Hot Shot and Bumblebee from the two shows respectively (you can discussion Rescue Bots Academy in its thread here).
Cullen talks about the studio in general and the recent acquisition by Hasbro and nothing specific about the shows, but if you're curious, you can look at the relevant passages below!
Boulder went from producing three projects at most to six IPs including season two of Danger Mouse and Hasbro’s Micronauts, The Littlest Pet Shop, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls and Rescue Bots Academy, all in Toon Boom Harmony. The studio is also storyboarding the latest Transformers series and its first CG animated feature film in Storyboard Pro.
With so many new productions, Boulder suddenly needed storyboard artists, concept designers and animators. The challenge became to scale up and find top talent without losing its quality and personality.
“We’ve always been quite selective about who we hire and it’s not just the talent I’m looking at; I want to know if they’re nice people and if they will fit in,” says Cullen.
Its team now includes people from around Ireland and the world, though growing from 160 to 360 seats in just over a year comes with certain concerns as well. Namely, keeping the boutique studio corporate culture it had established.
“Each project has a team with their own director and production manager — every piece feels like it’s a boutique production that people can take pride in,” says Cullen. “It doesn’t feel like we’re this vast company making random shows and we have to make sure it stays that way.”
A new interview over on ESPN gives us a little insight into one of the characters showing up in the third chapter of the Transformers Prime Wars trilogy series on Machinima - the Predacon combiner Predaking - and its voice actor Samoa Joe, a professional wrestler from TNA, Ring of Honor, NXT and WWE. He talks about his approach to the role and interest in the Transformers franchise, and his excitement for the gig. Take a read below, see the whole piece here, and join the discussion in the comments!
Even though Joe was out of commission for a few months at the start of 2018, he remained busy with another major step forward in his life and career with his biggest voice-acting role to date.
After lending his voice to the Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series and Dota 2, Samoa Joe took on the role of Predaking in Transformers: Power of the Primes. Joining a cast of heavy hitters that includes Mark Hamill, Ron Perlman, Jaime King, Wil Wheaton and Judd Nelson, among many others, Samoa Joe slipped naturally into a role that he was seemingly destined to play.
"I grew up watching Transformers," he said. "I think it was one of the first cartoons that I started watching as a kid. It was awesome. I would set my clock every morning before I went to school. It was a big part of my childhood.
"It was easy to throw myself in the character, it was fun," Joe continued. "As a child, I think everybody imitates their favorite cartoon character in some form or another when they're playing. To find themselves as a grown adult -- getting that chance and having it actually become part of that cartoon is a real cool thing."
Transformers: Power of the Primes, which debuted on Tuesday on go90 and tumblr, allowed Joe to channel the most villainous elements of his character while embracing passions from his past. He'll have a similar opportunity after Sunday once he settles into his new home on SmackDown Live, with familiar faces and new opponents alike.
[...]
"I play Predaking -- what happens when all the Predacons, which are these vicious animal robots that combine together," said Joe. "Predaking's basically this character who -- without giving away any spoilers -- he's on a hunt and he's looking to find his prey by any means necessary. He's a very violent individual, he's a very vicious individual, and when the producers were kind of looking around and wondering who to cast that role, I think my name was on of the forefront."
Via a new piece on Entertainment Weekly, we have another brief comment from John Cena, starring as agent Burns in the next Transformers live-action movie, aka the first and probably last spin-off of the Paramount universe so far: Bumblebee!
The interview is about Cena's plans and wishes for future roles, but he directed the discussion onto Bumblebee instead, repeating his previous positive points about director Travis Knight, and the nature of the story. Check them out below, and let us know what you think in the Energon Pub!
After a string of comedic roles, the actor is back in the action-movie fold with Bumblebee, the Transformers spin-off set 20 years before the events of the first film.
“It’s going to be a wonderful piece of this franchise that I think people are going to enjoy,” promises Cena. “I was very intrigued being able to meet the team around the movie. [Director] Travis [Knight] is such a passionate man. The role they were talking to me about doing was very intriguing to me because it’s a road I’ve never been down before, but a road I felt like I could accomplish. And then put that together with the context of the movie, the way that the consumer will now view Bumblebee, all of that stuff was very interesting to me. And then they were stupid enough to say yes.”
Bumblebee, which also stars Hailee Steinfeld, races into theaters on Dec. 21.
Metro recently had the chance to sit down with wrestler John Cena and talk to him about his upcoming comedy "Blockers", and while they were at it, they asked him a few questions about his role in the upcoming Transformers: Bumblebee film. While Cena was careful not to drop any spoilers or any new information regarding the movie itself, he did comment on how he feels the Bumblebee film will help reinvigorate the movieverse.
Cena has been heavily rumored to be acting as Agent Burns of Sector 7, though that is still yet to be confirmed. He also makes note, inadvertently, that he and Bumblebee will come to face to face in the film, as he talks about interacting with a tennis ball on a 13 foot tall stick, which is what actors use to focus on when a character will be added in using CGI later.
Check out some quotes from the interview below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!
I think Travis Knight did a fantastic job of reintroducing the look, the feel, the storytelling of this franchise. I think people who enjoy what ‘Transformers’ was will enjoy the movie.
.....
Here we are talking about ‘Blockers’ a comedy with a lot of improvisation. It is very difficult to improvise with a 13 foot stick with a tennis ball attached to it. So it is a different movie-making process, but one I was extremely interested in.”
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