Netflix rolls out a new trailer for its Transformers: War For Cybertron series
Last February, we reported that Netflix was developing a new Transformers series with Rooster Teeth and Polygon Studios that would serve as a new origin story for the characters—because “Autobots wage their battles to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons” is apparently too simplistic in 2020. Now, Netflix has released a trailer for Siege, the first installment in what it’s calling the Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy. The teaser actually offers a lot of information about what to expect from this show, like the very traditional setup of Megatron and his Decepticons running some kind of populist revolution against the Autobots (who are sometimes depicted as a corrupt regime that is nonetheless defended by honest Good Guys like Optimus Prime, but we don’t know what specific gripe the ‘Cons have against the ‘Bots this time around).
A press release mentions that Siege—which will consist of six, 22-minute episodes—will feature “a new animation look and style that presents the Transformers bots like you’ve never seen them before,” but that ignores the fact that literally every character shown in this trailer looks exactly like the toys that Hasbro has been selling for the last year or so (right down to some bulky “backpacks” and stylish “battle damage” stickers). Transformers has never not been about selling toys, so good for Hasbro that it was able to put together designs that make sense as animation models and as toys, which is a nice change of pace from some of the original ‘80s robots that didn’t even have knees.
The aforementioned press release also mentions that the Autobots might have to “kill their planet” in order to stop the Decepticons from taking over, but we can’t imagine Optimus Prime having to do something that drastic. Where else would the Autobots and Decepticons have their endless war if not Cybertron? Earth? That’s ridiculous. The robots would have to find some way to disguise themselves from curious humans, and unless they can find a way to “convert” themselves into everyday items like a boombox, an F-15, or a gun, we don’t see any way of that working out. Oh well, maybe we’ll find out more in Siege’s follow-up series, which is called Earthrise for some reason.
Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy: Siege doesn’t have premiere date yet, but Netflix says it’s “soon.” Also, this is unrelated to both the very good Transformers: War For Cybertron video game and Paramount’s upcoming reboot of the movies, but the origin story for the Autobot/Decepticon war is usually simple enough that you can slot it in anywhere it fits.