‘Transformers’ Movie Franchise Explained: All Seven Live

Dec 21, 2023

"I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars."

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

The Transformers film franchise is finally set to finally end its five-year hiatus with the all-new requel, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. The blockbuster franchise has raked in over a billion dollars at the international box office, taking the franchise's humble beginnings as a Hasbro toy line and cartoon into one of the most recognizable series of films in the modern age of movie making. Audiences everywhere have fallen in love with Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and his band of freedom-fighting Autobots on their multi-movie quest to protect Earth from all manner of evil.

The Autobots' latest adventure will be their most dangerous yet, as they team up with the futuristic Maximals to combat the planet-eating threat of Unicron (Colman Domingo). This epic tale is no doubt exciting, and some hardcore fans of the series may want a refresher course on what's happened in the live-action history of Transformers so far, as well as what films are still considered canon. For a complete summary of every film in this transformative saga, read below to hear an explanation for all seven movies in the Transformers franchise.

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Director: Michael Bay | Release Date: July 3, 2007 | Run Time: 2 hours 23 minutes | Budget: $150 million | Box Office: $709,709,780

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Megan Fox, Rachael Taylor, John Turturro, Jon Voight, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Glenn Morshower, Peter Cullen (voice), Mark Ryan (voice), Darius McCrary (voice), Robert Foxworth (voice), Jess Harnell (voice), Hugo Weaving (voice), Jim Wood (voice), Reno Wilson (voice), Charlie Adler (voice)

First Appearances: Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf), Mikaela Barnes (Fox), Robert Epps (Gibson), William Lennox (Duhamel), Maggie Madsen (Taylor), Glen Whitman (Anderson), Seymour Simmons (Turturro), John Keller (Voight), Ron Witwicky (Dunn), Judy Witwicky (White), Colonel Sharp (Morshower), Optimus Prime (Cullen), Bumblebee (Ryan), Jazz (McCrary), Ratchet (Foxworth), Ironhide (Harnell), Barricade (Harnell), Megatron (Weaving), Bonecrusher (Wood), Frenzy (Wilson), Adler (Starscream)

Main Villain: Megatron

Major Deaths: Brawl, Bonecrusher, Frenzy, Jazz, Blackout, Megatron

The film that started all was the 2007 film Transformers, the first of five films directed by action auteur Michael Bay. In typical Michael Bay fashion, the film adds quite a bit of grit and grime to the children's franchise, making the Autobots' battle with the Decepticons feel more like a proper war film rather than an animated cartoon.

The film primarily examines this extra-terrestrial conflict through the eyes of a human teenager, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), whose life changes entirely when he buys a Camaro that turns out to be a mute alien robot in disguise named Bumblebee. Sam's connection with the Transformers doesn't end there, as Sam happens to be the descendant of an explorer who found the frozen body of the evil leader of the Decepticons, Megatron (Hugo Weaving). This makes Sam, and his classmate Mikaela (Megan Fox), persons of interest for the benevolent Autobots and the sinister Decepticons, both of whom want to know the location of Megatron and the ultra-powerful Cybertronian artifact, the AllSpark.

The locations of both are in the base of a shadowy government organization called Sector 7 - a unit whose sole purpose is to keep the Transformers' existence a secret. It's an ultimately vain quest as the Decepticons are able to release Megatron and cause a city-wide Battle Royale. Thankfully, the Autobots and the humans are able to defeat the Decepticons and kill Megatron, sending the tyrant's body to the bottom of the ocean. However, Optimus and the Autobots know that the threat of rogue Decepticons is still prevalent, and agree to aid the humans in protecting Earth from any and all Cybertronian threats.

Director: Michael Bay | Release Date: June 24, 2009 | Run Time: 2 hours 29 minutes | Budget: $200 million | Box Office: $836,303,693

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Ramón Rodríguez, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Isabel Lucas, John Benjamin Hickey, Glenn Morshower, Rainn Wilson, Peter Cullen (voice), Mark Ryan (voice), Reno Wilson (voice), Jess Harnell (voice), Robert Foxworth (voice), André Sogliuzzo (voice), Grey Griffin (voice), Hugo Weaving (voice), Tony Todd (voice), Charlie Adler (voice), Frank Welker (voice), Tom Kenny (voice), Calvin Wimmer (voice), John Di Crosta (voice)

First Appearances: Leo Spitz (Rodriguez), Alice (Lucas), Galloway (Benjamin Hickey), Professor Colan (Wilson), Jetfire (Ryan), Mudflap (Wilson), Sideswipe (Sogliuzzo), Arcee (Griffin), The Fallen (Todd), Soundwave (Welker), Devastator (Welker), Reedman (Welker), Wheelie (Kenny), Skids (Kenny), Wheelbot (Wimmer), Doctor (Di Crosta)

Main Villain: The Fallen

Major Deaths: Optimus Prime (temporarily), Arcee, Jetfire, Devastator, Ravage, The Fallen

The years that followed saw Optimus and the Autobots tracking down the remnants of the Decepticon forces on Earth, but they learn that the evil Cybertronians are far from defeated. Using a shard from the destroyed AllSpark, the Decepticons have resurrected Megatron, who is now serving an ancient evil known only as The Fallen (Tony Todd). All of this occurs while Sam is trying to go back to living a normal life, about to pursue an education in college until another shard of the AllSpark causes him to have prophetic visions.

Sam's visions once again make him a target for the Decepticons, with Megatron especially seeking vengeance on the naive human who bested him. Optimus arrives to save Sam from Megatron, once again entering a duel with his fallen brother-in-arms. This time, however, Megatron is victorious, slaying Optimus with a piercing stab through the chest. With Optimus gone, The Fallen and Megatron seize the opportunity and begin their invasion of Earth, unveiling the secret of the Transformers' existence once and for all.

Knowing that only a Prime can defeat The Fallen, Sam, Bumblebee, and a ragtag group of Autobots travel to Egypt in search of the hidden Matrix of Leadership. The Matrix is a key that The Fallen needs to destroy Earth and its denizens, but it's also a device powerful enough to resurrect Optimus. They succeed, and Optimus officially turns the tide of battle by killing The Fallen. However, the threat is far from over, as Megatron escapes to plan his next move.

Director: Michael Bay | Release Date: June 29, 2011 | Run Time: 2 hours 23 minutes | Budget: $195 million | Box Office: $1,123,794,079

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Patrick Dempsey, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Alan Tudyk, Ken Jeong, Glenn Morshower, Buzz Aldrin, Peter Cullen (voice), Hugo Weaving (voice), Leonard Nimoy (voice), Jess Harnell (voice), Charlie Adler (voice), Robert Foxworth (voice), James Remar (voice), Francesco Quinn (voice), George Coe (voice), Tom Kenny (voice), Reno Wilson (voice), Frank Welker (voice), Ron Bottitta (voice), John DiMaggio (voice), Keith Szarabajka (voice), Greg Berg (voice)

First Appearances: Carly (Huntington-Whiteley), Dylan (Dempsey), Mearing (McDormand), Bruce Brazos (Malkovich), Dutch (Tudyk), Jerry Wang (Jeong), Buzz Aldrin (himself), Sentinel Prime (Nimoy), Dino (Quinn), Wheeljack (Coe), Brains (Wilson), Shockwave (Welker), Roadbuster (Bottitta), Amp (Bottitta), Leadfoot (DiMaggio), Target (DiMaggio), Laserbeak (Szarabajka), Igor (Berg)

Main Villain: Sentinel Prime

Major Deaths: Dylan, Jerry Wang, Iron Hide, Sentinel Prime, Starscream, Wheeljack, Lazerbeak, Megatron (again)

Once again, the next film in the series begins with the Autobots assisting Earth in their troubles and Sam trying to live a normal life. Sam is now job-hunting after saving the Earth twice, now living with his new girlfriend Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). The Autobots, meanwhile, are trying to figure out the next stage of Megatron's plan and discover it has something to do with a crashed Cybertronian ship found on the Moon. It's not just any ship but is the ship of the Autobots' former leader, Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy).

Optimus awakes his mentor with the Matrix of Leadership, thinking he will be an incredible ally in the fight. They learn they've been deceived when Sentinel betrays them, revealing he made an alliance with Megatron in a desperate attempt to save the dying planet of Cybertron. This begins the next stage of Megatron's plan, kickstarting yet another invasion as he, Sentinel, and the Decepticons take complete control over the city of Chicago.

The climactic final battle sees endless robotic conflict take place in the city's streets with more than a few close calls for our heroes. In the end, Optimus is able to slay both Sentinel and Megatron, seemingly putting an end to this historic conflict once and for all. As Optimus relays his final speech, he has no idea that problems for him and his companions are far from over.

Director: Michael Bay | Release Date: June 27, 2014 | Run Time: 2 hours 45 minutes | Budget: $210 million | Box Office: $1,104,054,072

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz Beckham, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Titus Welliver, Bingbing Li, T.J. Miller, Peter Cullen (voice), Frank Welker (voice), John Goodman (voice), Ken Watanabe (voice), Robert Foxworth (voice), John DiMaggio (voice), Mark Ryan (voice), Reno Wilson (voice)

First Appearances: Cade Yeager (Wahlberg), Tessa Yeager (Peltz Beckham), Shane Dyson (Reynor), Joshua Joyce (Tucci), Harold Attinger (Grammer), James Savoy (Welliver), Su Yueming (Li), Lucas Flannery (Miller), Galvatron (Welker), Hound (Goodman), Drift (Watanabe), Crosshairs (DiMaggio), Lockdown (Ryan)

Main Villain: Lockdown

Major Deaths: Harold Attinger, James Savoy, Lucas Flannery, Ratchet, Leadfoot, Lockdown

The fourth film in the series, Transformers: Age of Extinction, bids farewell to Sam Witwicky and says hello to Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) - a struggling inventor living in Texas. The film takes place where the Transformers are seemingly extinct, with the human government betraying the Autobots since they were perceived as a potential threat now that the Decepticons had been defeated. That ends up not being the case when Cade finds a defunct and rusted truck, which happens to be none other than a dormant Optimus Prime.

When Cade wakes up Optimus, he is not the human-loving protector that we know and love. This Optimus is fed up with the constant betrayals he's faced from the humans, with each alliance ending in betrayal and the deaths of many of his comrades. Still, he forms a reluctant alliance with Cade, who helps Optimus escape an evil government agent named Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer) and a Cybertronian bounty hunter working for the humans called Lockdown (Mark Ryan). Optimus also learns that there are other Autobots still alive, with a new ragtag team consisting of Bumblebee, Hound (John Goodman), Drift (Ken Watanabe), and Crosshairs (John DiMaggio).

While the government and Lockdown are a threat, they pale in comparison to an unexpected returning foe. Human scientist Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci), completely by accident, has accidentally resurrected Megatron yet again, now going by the name Galvatron (Frank Welker). The Autobots fight a war on three fronts now, facing Attinger, Lockdown, and Megatron all at the same time, though they are victorious once again, becoming heroes to Earth once more with the help of the ancient Dinobots.

Director: Michael Bay | Release Date: June 21, 2017 | Run Time: 2 hours 34 minutes | Budget: $217 million | Box Office: $605,425,157

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Duhamel, Laura Haddock, Isabela Merced, Jerrod Carmichael, Stanley Tucci, Liam Garrigan, Glenn Morshower, Gemma Chan, Peter Cullen (voice), Frank Welker (voice), Erik Aadahl (voice), Ken Watanabe (voice), Jim Carter (voice), Steve Buscemi (voice), Omar Sy (voice), Reno Wilson (voice), John DiMaggio (voice), Tom Kenny (voice), Jess Harnell (voice), Mark Ryan (voice), Steven Barr (voice)

First Appearances: Sir Edmund Burton (Hopkins), Vivian Wembly (Haddock), Izabella (Merced), Jimmy (Carmichael), Merlin (Tucci), King Arthur (Garrigan), Quintessa (Chan), Cogman (Carter), Daytrader (Buscemi), Hot Rod (Sy), Sqweeks (Wilson), Mohawk (Wilson), Nitro Zeus (DiMaggio), Lieutenant (Ryan), Volleybolt (Barr)

Main Villain: Quintessa

Major Deaths: Sir Edmund Button, Canopy, Dreadbot, Onslaught, Mohawk, Infernocus, Nitro Zeus, Sam Witwicky (off-screen)

The final film of the Bay continuity begins with the story of King Arthur of all things. Turns out, Merlin (Stanley Tucci) was no wizard but did make a pact with a group of noble Transformers to control the Cybertronian deity, Dragonstorm. The staff Merlin used was lost to time and becomes one of many artifacts that the Autobots and Cade Yeager hope to discover. That is, most of the Autobots, such as Optimus Prime has gone missing after learning that the creator of the Cybertronian race may still live in the stars.

On Earth, Cade comes into contact with Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins) - the leader of a secret society called the Witwickans whose goal is to preserve the history of the Transformers on Earth since the dawn of time. On the now-dead planet of Cybertron, Optimus meets the mysterious entity Quintessa (Gemma Chan), who claims to be the creator of the Cybertronians. If that bombshell wasn't enough, Quintessa also tells Optimus that the planet of Earth itself is a Transformer, that being her ancient enemy, Unicron.

Quintessa manipulates and mind-controls Optimus into doing her bidding, sending Optimus to destroy Unicron and thus destroy Earth. This leads to a near-deadly conflict between friends, as Optimus duels his lifelong friend Bumblebee. Thankfully, Bumblebee is able to snap Optimus out of his trance, so they can save the planet. The film's final moments tease Quintessa is not done manipulating Earth's heroes, but this would be the last we would see of the Bay continuity.

Director: Travis Knight | Release Date: December 21, 2018 | Run Time: 1 hour 54 minutes | Budget: $135 million | Box Office: $467,989,645

Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Cena, Jason Drucker, Pamela Adlon, Stephen Schneider, John Ortiz, Glynn Turman, Len Cariou, Dylan O'Brien (voice), Peter Cullen (voice), Angela Bassett (voice), Justin Theroux (voice), David Sobolov (voice), Greg Griffin (voice), Jon Bailey (voice), Steve Blum (voice), Andrew Morgado (voice), Dennis Singletary (voice)

First Appearances: Charlie (Steinfeld), Memo (Lendeborg Jr.), Agent Burns (Cena), Otis (Drucker), Sally (Adlon), Ron (Schneider), Dr. Powell (John Ortiz), General Whalen (Turman), Uncle Hank (Cariou), Shatter (Bassett), Dropkick (Theroux), Blitzwing (Sobolov), Cliffjumper (Morgado)

Main Villains: Shatter and Dropkick

Major Deaths: Blitzwing, Cliffjumper, Dropkick, Shatter

Bumblebee is a very interesting entry in the franchise. The film was initially planned to be a prequel to the already existing Michael Bay films, though there are a few continuity breaks, which were honestly fairly common in the franchise already. Now, the film has been considered a starting point for a new reboot, with the five prior films no longer being considered canonical.

The film opens with something fans have wanted to see in live-action for years: the War of Cybertron. The conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons is shown in all of its glory, with the many Transformers shown in their classic G1 designs. The battle ends with a pre-damaged Bumblebee (Dylan O'Brien) traveling off-world, landing on Earth during the 1980s. Unfortunately for Bee, he's followed to the planet by the Decepticon Blitzwing (David Sobolov), who damages Bumblebee's voice box and thus prevents him from speaking.

Bee eventually comes into contact with another human teenager named Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), who is still reeling from the loss of her father. Their friendship proceeds in typical Iron Giant fashion, with the robot forming a close bond with Charlie. That bond is tested when two more Decepticons, Shatter (Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (Justin Theroux), come to Earth looking for Bee. Bumblebee is able to defeat the two, but his battle reminds Bee that Charlie won't be safe with him. Plus, he knows he has a duty to continue his fight with the Decepticons, so he goes to reunite with Optimus and the other Autobots.

Director: Steven Caple Jr. | Release Date: June 9, 2023 | Run Time: 2 hours 7 minutes | Budget: $200 million | Box Office: TBD

Cast: Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Velez, Dean Scott Vazquez, Tobe Nwigwe, Michael Kelly, Peter Cullen (voice), Ron Perlman (voice), Peter Dinklage (voice), Michelle Yeoh (voice), Pete Davidson (voice), Liza Koshy (voice), John DiMaggio (voice), David Sobolov (voice), MJ Rodriguez (voice), Colman Domingo (voice), Cristo Fernández (voice), and Tongayi Chirisa (voice)

First Appearances: Noah Diaz (Ramos), Elena Wallace (Fishback), Breanna Diaz (Lauren Velez), Kris Diaz (Scott Vazquez), Reek (Nwigwe), Agent Burke (Kelly), Optimus Primal (Perlman), Scourge (Dinklage), Airazor (Yeoh), Mirage (Davidson), Stratosphere (DiMaggio), Rhinox (Sobolov), Battletrap (Sobolov), Apelinq (Sobolov), Nightbird (Rodriquez), Unicron (Domingo), Cheetor (Chirisa)

Main Villain: Scourge

Major Deaths: Apelinq, Bumblebee (temporarily), Airazor, Battletrap, Nightbird, Scourge

The latest Transformers storyline functions as both a direct sequel to Bumblebee and a full reboot of the live-action continuity. It also marks the first time that we've seen the fan-favorite Maximals on-screen, who travel back in time to escape the threat of Scourge (Peter Dinklage) and his master Unicron. Again, since this is a rebooted continuity, Unicron is likely no longer Earth and is instead a whole new evil entity.

The humans who are caught up in the alien conflict this time are car thief Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) and archaeologist Elena Wallace (Dominque Fishback). They assist the Autobots and eventually come into contact with the Maximal leader Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman), who in the original animated shows, is Optimus Prime's descendant. The Autobots and Maximals teaming up for the first time are certainly exciting, but hopefully, it will be enough to stop a threat like Unicron.

Aidan Kelley is a senior resource writer for Collider, as well as an independent filmmaker and lover of all things cinema.