Bumblebee was a planned spin-off/prequel of the 2007 film Transformers, based on Hasbro's long-running toyline franchise, taking place in an interim between the established backstory of the fifth film Transformers: The Last Knight (released in 2017), in which Bumblebee was established to have been active on Earth since World War II at the earliest, and the events of the first film. The finalized version of the film would be hastily retooled into an effective reboot, in thanks to the disappointing box office returns and reception of Transformers: The Last Knight, albeit keeping some plot points and parallels that let the film function as a quasi-prequel at bare minimum.
Plot[]
The plot would have been almost the same as the finished version but notably different. Some of these could have explicitly connected with the previous five movies Michael Bay directed.
The following things, that were changed:
- Bumblebee was already present and active on Earth since WWII in the 1940's, (connecting to retcons in flashbacks Transformers: The Last Knight), having since been betrayed and turned on by the human military, who had since come to mistrust the Cybertronians' presence on Earth and had thus formed Sector Seven to pursue and either imprison or destroy them, be they Autobot or Decepticon. Sequences involving Bumblebee, in his WWII dark-green Jeep mode, being chased down through the wilderness of likely Vietnam or Omaha Beach by a squad of military vehicles and operatives, likely of Sector Seven, before leading into the original opening scene of an embittered and wounded Bumblebee lamenting his predicament, outright renouncing humanity and his mission to protect them by 1987. This was omitted in the final version, where Bumblebee had only just arrived on Earth in 1987 in the film's first act, with his escape pod accidentally landing on top of a training squad led by Agent Burns, who mistook him an enemy combatant who ambushed them, and after being pursued and cornered by the military unit, tried to plead his case and almost was able to smooth things over before Blitzwing also ambushed the standoff, killing all other soldiers save Burns and fully convincing him that Cybertronians were hostile invaders.
- Burns was also intended to be a far grimmer borderline cruel character, implied to have lost a loved one or several in the past due to a conflict involving the Transformers, and began to resent to outright hate Cybertronians, regardless of faction, which would motivate him into joining Sector Seven and relentlessly and violently hounding Bumblebee for an untold amount of years, as well as being far more distrusting of Shatter and Dropkick, enough that he would betray them on his own. Due to the film's extensive retooling, as well as John Cena's own charismatic charm in the performance, Burns was toned down from his original characterization and made to be far more reasonable and playful, evident in the paintball training exercise of his first scene in the finalized version just before Bumblebee's arrival, as well as briefly holding off to hear Bumblebee out when he realizes he can talk.
- Very early drafts had intended that Charlie in fact would have been killed by Shatter and Dropkick during a chase scene or outright blasted by one of them, which would have utterly devastated Bumblebee for not having protected her, which would lead to him violently executing the two Decepticons and driving off Barricade, with Agent Burns relenting after seeing Bumblebee's sorrow and allowing him to retreat as consolation. Bumblebee scanning the 1978 Camaro by the end of the movie, that he has by the start of the first film, would imply that he felt the Volkswagen Beetle was not a fast or powerful enough vehicle to guard or protect any other human who came into contact with him, as well as indicating why he was so loyal and violently protective of Sam in the future films, not wanting to repeat what happened to Charlie. They were also brief considerations with this concept for a proper Transformers 6, where Bumblebee would reflect on both the deaths of both Charlie and Sam, having felt he failed both of them, as Sam, Carly, Ron, and Judy were all but confirmed to have been murdered by Cemetery Wind in the interim between Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction, indicated by Sir Edmund stating that Vivian was the final descendant of the Witwiccan line in The Last Knight.
- Hot Rod would have been included as a small cameo to connect to the events of Transformers: The Last Knight, as he was a friend and comrade of Bumblebee's during this period. Hot Rod was omitted from the movie, however the toyline did have a toy renditions of him.
- Barricade was originally meant to have been included as a villain to connect to the first movie, having also been present on Earth chasing Bumblebee for an unspecified time, assisting the movie's three other Decepticon villains, Blitzwing, Shatter, and Dropkick, this being confirmed by Jess Harnell (Barricade's voice actor), likely being the reason for their familiarity and rivalry throughout the first film. This likely means he'd have been the "last bot standing" by the end of the movie, leading into the events of the first film. However, despite being omitted, the toyline did included toys renditions of Barricade.
- A post-credits scene would have included the cameo of a dormant Megatron frozen in Sector Seven's headquarters within the Hoover Dam, obviously connecting to Transformers (2007). However, as part of the homage to the movies Generation 1-inspired aesthetic, he would have been redesigned to resemble his G1 counterpart. During production, when it was up in the air of the film's status as a prequel or reboot, director Travis Knight and writer Christina Hodson had intended for Megatron to be present during the Decepticons' siege on Iacon during the opening scene, only for the producers and executives to dictate his frozen captive status be retained to align with the original 2007 film, before the sequence was cut entirely when it was finalized as a reboot.
- Bumblebee's relationship with Blitzwing was also intended to be a multi-decade spanning rivalry, having fought each other many times since the 1960s, being the leader of a sect of Decepticons consisting of himself, Barricade, and Decepticon infiltrator Diabla (whom had a friendly rivalry with Bumblebee), established in the prequel comic by IDW, Transformers Bumblebee: The Movie Prequel. In the finalized cut, Blitzwing is simply a Decepticon Seeker who was dispatched The Decepticon leadership to pursue the Autobot refugees who escaped during the opening battle on Cybertron, arriving just after Bumblebee, being the first to find and engage him before being killed by him.
Some elements of this version remained in the final product, like most parts of the movie, the designs of Bumblebee, Blitzwing, and Dropkick. Another element of the previous version was that Agent Burns, played by John Cena would be a more serious character, some scenes of this were left in the cut.
Why It Was Cancelled[]
- The Last Knight was widely panned by critics, fans, and audiences alike and flopped at the box office.
- Another reason was that director Travis Knight found it very difficult to follow the canon of the Michael Bay universe, so he decided to make the film a reboot., so multiple reshoots were made to change the movie into a Reboot.
Result[]
- The film's premise was changed into a reboot. Bumblebee was praised by critics, audiences, and fans alike.
- After the success of Bumblebee, it was decided to scrap Michael Bay's universe to create a new cinematic universe, a sequel to Bumblebee, part of this universe, will be released in 2023, called Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which will involve Autobots and a new faction: the Maximals, uniting to defeat the Terrorcons. the Decepticons and the Predacons (Enemies of Maximals) are also confirmed for this movie, although they were changed back to prequels.[1]
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- The majority of the toys from the movie's toyline were based off early concept art, explaining why some of the toys look inaccurate to the movie characters that they were supposed to represent.