2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts aimed to revitalize the series by combining the emotional core of Bumblebee with the large-scale action of earlier Transformers films. Although it’s one of the stronger live-action Transformers movies, Rise of the Beasts isn’t without its flaws and could have been even better.
While Rise of the Beasts looked good and featured a lot of characters, it didn’t quite reach the level of the best Transformers movies. Here’s a look at what fans found most disappointing about it.
Wheeljack’s Design Still Isn’t Right In Live-Action
Despite multiple Transformers films, Hollywood struggles to portray Wheeljack accurately, usually giving him only a brief appearance. Fans were excited when it was announced he’d return, but the version in Rise of the Beasts was a big departure from the classic character. He looked almost completely different, swapping his signature fin-shaped head for a boxy van body, strange suspenders, and glasses.
Wheeljack’s design is noticeably different from his more streamlined look in Bumblebee, although he only appeared briefly during the Cybertron scenes in the movie.
Compared to the accurate designs of characters like Optimus Prime and Arcee in Rise of the Beasts, Wheeljack’s significant redesign felt out of place. This was especially disappointing considering Wheeljack is one of the most intelligent and popular original Autobots. Hopefully, we’ll see a more fitting design for him in future Transformers films.
The Maximals Should’ve Been From The Future, Not Another Dimension
A confusing part of Rise of the Beasts was how it changed the backstory of the Maximals. In the original Beast Wars cartoon, the Maximals were from Cybertron’s distant future and were actually the descendants of the Autobots, who traveled back in time to prehistoric Earth.
Despite being introduced as powerful beings, the Maximals in Rise of the Beasts are simply presented as Cybertronians from a different dimension whose world was destroyed by Unicron. This new backstory doesn’t connect them to the established Cybertronian history that fans are familiar with, making their appearance feel somewhat arbitrary – they seem to be included mainly because they were also affected by Unicron.
It’s not a major problem, but it does mean the Maximals miss out on opportunities to connect their story to the current Autobots and their history.
Scourge’s Changed Origin Undercuts His G1 Legacy
I’m really excited about the villain in Rise of the Beasts – Scourge! He’s the leader of the Terrorcons and basically works for this huge, scary villain named Unicron. It’s a tragic story, actually. His home world was destroyed, so he made a deal with Unicron, becoming his messenger. It reminds me a bit of Silver Surfer from Marvel – another character who served a planet-eating being after losing everything.
Although Scourge is a powerful and intimidating character, his origins are unclear. In the original Transformers series, he was created from the remains of the Decepticon Thundercracker. By not connecting Scourge to this past, the new movie Rise of the Beasts missed an opportunity to give the villain – voiced by Peter Dinklage – a more interesting and complex backstory and a stronger link to the existing Transformers universe.
Despite the fact that Rise of the Beasts essentially restarted the Transformers series, Scourge comes across as a typical, unoriginal villain instead of a powerful representation of Unicron’s evil and full potential.
The Maximals Were Underused (And Rattrap Was Missing Entirely)
Okay, so this movie really pushed the idea that we were finally getting a whole new team of Transformers – the Maximals – but honestly, they felt surprisingly underused. It’s a bit of a letdown when a major selling point doesn’t actually get much screen time. I was expecting a lot more from them, and I left feeling a little disappointed.
While Optimus Primal, Airazor, and Cheetor all had their chances to shine, Rhinox barely spoke throughout the movie. Even more surprisingly, Rattrap, a popular character from Beast Wars known for his tough attitude and demolitions skills, wasn’t included at all, missing an opportunity to add more personality to the team.
It was a real shame that the animalistic Transformers, known as the Maximals, weren’t developed as strong characters. Considering how popular character interactions were in Beast Wars, audiences likely hoped to see them really connect with – and even conflict with – the Autobots. Instead, they felt like supporting players when they could have been central to the movie’s emotional impact, alongside the Autobots themselves.
Cutting OG Megatron Was A Disappointing Mistake
Similar to what happened with the Bumblebee movie, early sketches and leaked toy designs indicated that Megatron was originally planned to appear in Rise of the Beasts. The plan was to feature the iconic Decepticon leader with a fresh design inspired by his original G1 appearance.
Originally, the idea was to reveal Megatron as a character who had been imprisoned and frozen, with both films acting as backstories to the Michael Bay movies. However, during development, Megatron was removed from the story. The filmmakers decided to reboot the series, focusing instead on Unicron and the Terrorcons in Rise of the Beasts.
As a fan, I think cutting that scene, while making the movie flow better, was a missed opportunity. Seeing even a hint that Megatron might still be out there would have gotten everyone hyped for the sequel and given the next film a real head start. It felt like they left potential on the table, honestly.
No T. Rex Megatron Disappointed Beast Wars Fans
Adding to the disappointment of losing the original Megatron, fans of Beast Wars were also saddened by the lack of T. Rex Megatron – the famous future descendant of the Decepticon leader who turned into a large purple Tyrannosaurus.
Seeing Optimus Primal and Megatron battle it out on screen would have been incredible, but it didn’t happen, probably because of changes to the established backstory. It would have created a much stronger link between the movie Rise of the Beasts and the original Beast Wars series.
Shifting Tones & Rushed Character Development (Especially Optimus Prime)
Okay, let me tell you, one of the biggest issues with Rise of the Beasts is how all over the place the tone is. It jumps from genuinely touching scenes to total mayhem without really earning those emotional shifts. The movie just flies through the plot, hitting beats without giving us the breathing room to really connect with what’s happening. It needed some quieter moments to let the story resonate, but those were unfortunately missing.
As a movie fan, one thing that really bothered me about this film was how much focus was given to the human characters’ emotional scenes, instead of letting the Transformers themselves be the heart of the story. And honestly, Optimus Prime’s arc was just… weird. He starts off seeming almost detached and uncaring, then suddenly, at the end, he’s all about protecting Earth and humanity. It felt really jarring and didn’t quite land for me.
Peter Cullen once again does a great job voicing Optimus Prime, but the story of Optimus’s development feels a little rushed. It’s now known that some scenes from the beginning of the movie were cut, and these scenes would have better explained why Optimus changed and grew as a character.
The G.I. Joe Crossover Tease Still Hasn’t Paid Off
The big hint at a G.I. Joe and Transformers team-up at the end of Rise of the Beasts seemed like a guaranteed hit, and many expected a movie announcement soon after. This would have launched an exciting shared universe featuring both franchises, and potentially others from Hasbro.
As of 2025, the proposed crossover between Transformers and G.I. Joe remains stalled. There haven’t been any new announcements about the project, no actors have been cast beyond initial consideration, and production hasn’t moved forward. Actor Anthony Ramos recently suggested the project is uncertain due to the ongoing merger between Paramount and Skydance.
Fans were hoping the ending of Rise of the Beasts would lead to more Transformers content, and the lack of news has been disappointing. However, there’s good news: Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment is creating an animated series that will connect the Transformers and G.I. Joe universes, drawing inspiration from their ongoing Energon Universe comic books.
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2025-11-11 07:01