The ’80s were the most magical era ever, as anyone who lived through that decade and/or really loves John Hughes movies can attest to. That 10-year stretch has been a veritable pop culture mine for TV and film creators lately, as we’ve seen in riffs like the MacGyver and Ghostbusters reboots, and homages like Stranger Things. So naturally, any current properties culled from the ’80s will want to return to their birthplace, right? At least, that seems to be the thinking behind the Bumblebee spin-off, which we already know is going to be a prequel, but has just been confirmed to take place in 30-odd years ago.
The news about the setting comes from Empire Magazine (via ScreenRant) whose print edition features an article all about the Transformers film franchise. In addition to tidbits about The Last Knight, which will see Optimus Prime going medieval on Bumblebee’s ass, the article indicates the spin-off will take place in the 1980s. Now, we know that’s when the robots-in-disguise toys debuted in real life, but there’s no telling just how the ’80s will factor into Bumblebee’s solo pic, which is being directed by Travis Knight, other than to have him playing a lot of Run D.M.C. or Cyndi Lauper. But since we will be dealing with a younger Bumblebee, he probably won’t require Top 40 hits to communicate. In any case, the buzz is that the Bumblebee movie will be out June 8, 2018, possibly starring Hailee Steinfeld.