While not quite the same measure of success as Fast & Furious, the meteoric journey of the live-action Transformers movies is nothing short of impressive. Since the explosive debut of the robots in disguise in 2007’s Transformers by the equally explosive (in the box office) Michael Bay, the Autobots and Decepticons have duked it out time and again across multiple movies, with another just a little over the horizon.

And while both sides of the battle for Earth have found allies, or at least others whose objectives align with their own, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts finally debuts arguably one of the most anticipated tribes in all of Transformers lore.

The Maximals

Expanding on the Transformers universe in 1996, the Maximals were the protagonists of the computer-animated series Beast Wars. Descendants of the Autobots, the Maximals faced the Decepticon counterparts in the Predacons over the course of the animated series. While both sides introduced many memorable characters, Rise of the Beasts keeps the Maximal line-up streamlined with only Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman), Airazor (Michelle Yeoh), Cheetor (Tongayi Chirisa), Rhinox (David Sobolov) forming the core of the team.

But their scant line-up is thankfully bolstered by the ever-present…

Autobots

Returning for their seventh live-action outing alongside humans. Both Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and Bumblebee return, defending their titles as the only Transformers to have appeared in all seven movies, and are joined by Arcee (Liza Koshy), Wheeljack(Dani Rojas Cristo Fernández), Stratosphere (John DiMaggio), and Mirage (Pete Davidson). While all hold their own across the movie, Davidson’s Mirage is the clear key Autobot this movie, and the new torchbearer following Bumblebee’s impressive 11-year stint as every human’s best robot friend.

Along with the Maximals, the extensive line-up of good guys is a necessity in the face of the exceptionally brutal…

Terrorcons/Predacons

Not to say that the Deceptions were lightweight by any means, but the Terrorcons certainly got the assignment when christened. Led by Scourge (Peter Dinklage), Battletrap (David Sobolov), and Nightbird (MJ Rodriguez), along with Freezers and the Predacon Scorponoks, the Terrorcons arguably pose the largest threats faced by our heroes. Quite literally, given their allegiance to…

Unicron

The Galactus of the Transformers universe (a tad bit scarier, no lie), Unicron’s pretty much the benchmark of the big screen experience as far as the overall franchise goes. Debuting in the 1986 animated movie, Unicron’s largely been the end-all threat for the Cybertronians. Disallowing minor details such as affiliations and allegiances from holding him back, Unicron has one goal and one goal only: to find the fattest planet burger–with or without the help of his Decepticon (or Terrorcon) cronies.

Rise of the Beasts

The Maximals and Autobots make real every ‘90s’ (and older… maybe younger) kid’s dream by teaming-up against Unicron’s Terrorcons in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, out on 8th June 2023. And if you’re desperate to get a Transformers fix before then, be sure to hit Netflix before all six Transformers movies are removed… forever!

Well, we don’t know if it’ll be forever, but you should probably go get a quick watch either ways.