Very quickly, before beginning, while I will not go into spoilers, I have seen The Last Jedi and my personal views around the controversies it has been causing in the Star Wars community is really petty. Looking at the larger picture, I'm personally fine with the issues people have with it after a single view and thinking back on it. That view might change when I go to review it though, which I'll try to do as soon as the DVD gets released.
While it is all well and good to try and fix, course correct, take something into a new direction and more, many people believe that Bayformers is something irredeemable. While I stand by my choice of releasing the post talking about how I'd start to handle it going forward, there's also the flip side of "what if I could give it a clean slate? What if I was in control from the beginning?".
For the sake of a challenge, I'm limiting myself to the movie release schedules of the actual movies, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2017. As such, I am only using characters and ideas that existed around those times. Original ideas are still fair game, but I can't add in a character like Victorion into Movie 1, she didn't even exist yet. The thing to remember about this though is that hindsight is 20/20, and I am looking at this with the knowledge of the five movies, so these ideas wouldn't be the same as if I was coming at it without that knowledge. And like with the last post, I am keeping in mind that these are for mass audiences, but I still hold to my rule of "if there is an audience for it, its there for a reason, and it'll be your free advertisement", so there will naturally be a combination and balance of the two audiences. Also, like with the last post, this is being done with the visual style of Live action/ CGI (even though I prefer animation). Also I'm using the poster/ DVD art for the actual movies as placeholder images, just to help break up the wall of text. With those out of the way:
Transformers 2007: Honestly, this is the one that I think was almost perfect for what it was trying to do, though I would have done a few things differently, some minor, some major, though overall the main story threads would be about the same. Tackling the robot cast first, I would have given Brawl a concrete name in the form of Demolishor. While the movie is G1 focused, its something that would have been for the kids going to see it who got in during the Unicron trilogy. Not a huge change, but one that probably would have saved a few headaches. Scorponok I'd leave in the movie as is, but the name itself I want to save for another movie. More on that next week. Starscream's design I'd change so that its not a starfish, and actually give him a look more fitting for a second in command.
In terms of the Autobots. A lot of the changes for them would be in personality. Ironhide I'd probably make a bit more of a smart ass, bit more confident, bit more cocky, something akin to Movie 4 Hound, in that he'd have enough guns to be a one bot army. He is the weapons specialist after all. While its not a problem for Movie 1, one thing I'd do is lock down the ratio of Heroic/ Psychopath for Optimus Prime, as... well let's just say there are reasons why the running joke for Bayverse Prime is that he likes to collect faces. In terms of new characters, I would have included Arcee in movie 1, she was a cut character from the movie and I personally find the excuse of "oh well we'll have to come up with a reason as to why female transformers exist at all" is a pathetic excuse. Do you need to draw attention to it by giving her an overly feminine stereotypical personality? No! A lot of TF fans see her as a bad ass (why do you think there was a lot of hate around that one Fans Toys picture?), you can just have her there, have her be a strong character in her own right, and move on.
The humans then. Overall, I'm fine with the human cast. They do the job perfectly in regards to the stuff related to the government. Sam's relations though... they could go with some work. I'd tone down the "comedy" related to the parent a bit. Still have them be awkward, but not pace breaking awkward, and after this movie I wouldn't bring them back in prominent roles. I'd also make the father a Police man, but that's more for future developments. Sam and Mikaela (I hope that's the right spelling) get the most changes in this version of the story, because instead of a story about "boy needs to get the girl", this version of the movie would already have them in a relationship for a few years. Just enough for there to still be some secrets, but long enough for there to be some chemistry between them. Sam would also be getting a confidence boost, becoming a bit more assertive, and large chunks of his dialogue wouldn't be "no no no no no no no no no". He would however still be the guy with the map to the All Spark.
Getting to story, overall it would be the same, however there are a few changes. While Megatron would have been in the North Pole, the All Spark would have been near where the Hoover Dam was, with Megatron crashing into the ice during the Ice Age. The dam was made for the All Spark, and Megatron would have gone there afterwards. A plot thread between the four movies would have been the information Sector 7 had on the Transformers, something that would come up more and more later on in this trilogy (I compressed it down to fourth movies, though I am tackling a fifth movie that launches the extended universe). The All Spark wouldn't have the history of the Transformers tacked onto it (because there's no need for it to be that), and while the energies of the Cube almost kill Megatron, they don't, so we don't have to waste parts of a movie to revive him for no reason. And with that, those are the changes I'd make to the first movie for this reboot. Most of them are small, just to help flow the story, though the few big changes that are there are things to tackle in movies 2 and 3, with pitches that aren't as long because I don't need to dissect the actual movie 2 and 3.
Movie 2. The main reason why the All Spark wasn't able to kill Megatron is because of the energy it lost over time being away from Cybertron, that energy slowly leaving the cube, and changing aspects of the planet, allowing for natural Energon to form on the planet. Knowing the Energon is on the planet, the Decepticons in secret begin work on an Energon Harvester, one that would destroy the planet's eco system in order to draw out the Energon, with Soundwave using the US's satellite network to keep it a secret. The Autobots, now working in NEST, a UN creation to stop Decepticon activity alongside international soldiers eventually learn of this plan, and must rush out to stop the Decepticons before the Harvester can activate. As for Sam and Mikaela, with Bumblebee now protecting the two of them as they go on their post High School journeys. Their story being the side story, coping with a post TF life they have to keep secret. Mikaela becoming more knowledgable of Cybertronian technology, and Sam aiming to work alongside the Autobots and NEST. A lot of the new Decepticons are more covert in nature this time, like the Stunticons and Constructicons (who would form Devastator, but not that abomination of a Devastator from RoTF), while the Autobots would have more military focused recruits such as Hound, Ultra Magnus, and the Aerialbots (which like the stunticons, won't form their combined mode).
For Movie 3. I'd put the focus on the start of the Cybertronian War, based on IDW's Megatron's Origins, and Chaos Theory. The overall story would overall be a more subdued one, with the big battle happening at the end, where Megatron would kill Sentinel Prime. I like the idea of building up to a point where the Decepticon cause goes from peaceful protests to drawing blood, with the intention being that you can see the sparks of what will become Optimus Prime and Megatron, but at a point before the Great War, with other movies that directly connect to this one telling the story more. But, there is a reason why I'm putting this here, and not saving it for its own series.
A big thing about this new series is exploring the effects of the Cybertronians on Earth, and the similarities of the cultures. In Movie 2, the weapons for NEST in particular would be more futuristic, and in Movie 4, set several years after the events of Movie 2, the technology of the general public would have exceeded far beyond that of normal technological advancements. Plans are being made to give Earth an interstellar defense, quality of life for the human population will have improved dramatically, and even the Autobot's will have new, more futuristic designs for their alt modes. The story for this one wouldn't revolve around Megatron and the Decepticons as the main enemies (HOLD IT, I know what you're thinking, let me finish!), but instead focusing on one Decepticon, and a team of humans that this new society has thrown out, their skills no longer needed. This Decepticon is one that would be a mix of Marvel UK's Soundwave, along with IDW and TFP's interpretations on Shockwave: Soundblaster: A mad scientist with ways to manipulate his victims into doing what he wants, and has been modifying humans into Human/ Cybertronian hybrids as a way of drawing out the Autobots and the rest of the Decepticons, and using them to spark a war on par with that of the Cybertronian Great War.
These new "Pretenders" are causing chaos around the planet, and it is up to the Autobots along with a Pretender turned hero. I will admit a name I was considering for this character would be Sari, but I'm not sure if that would have been a good idea. As some might guess, the reason the idea for movie 3 happened before this one is again to draw on those similarities, "how would the Autobots react to these events when they are so similar to the start of their own war?" kind of thing. In a mid credits scene, I'd show the opening of the Earth Interstellar Defense and Exploration division that was being planned during the movie and in a post credits scene, I'd show what happened to the Decepticons at the end of Movie 2. This whole time, they were rebuilding their forces, restoring Megatron (who I wouldn't have outright killed in Movie 2, but he was believed dead by the Autobots), and have been working on what would eventually become Trypticon, who would be the big draw for the fifth movie. As for why I picked Soundblaster as the villain for this movie? Well, I wanted to use some of the lesser known Soundwave/ Soundblaster minions as "his army", plus considering what some of them are, it would add into that "mad scientist" thing.
For now, I will call this a wrap, and next week I'll share some ideas for a Cinematic Transformers Universe, in terms of individual movie ideas. As you might be able to guess, I took the idea of a "cinematic universe" literally, as space is going to play a large role for these movies. Assuming I haven't pissed a lot of people off yet with these, hopefully I'll see you then, and please let me know of what you think of these kinds of posts.
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