With the countdown for the launch of Transformers project: the Power of the Primes trilogy.
However, most fans are still hopeful about War for Cybertron and have been adequately hype with each trailer Netflix drops, especially after confirming that the third part of the trilogy will have Beast Wars characters.
Want to See: Cybertron
Possibly the number one request from Transformers fans about any new Transformers series is to have a story completely set on Cybertron. No Earth, no humans, just the Cybertronians on their home planet.
While the first IDW comics run achieved this, it really wasn’t until later in its run that fans got the larger world-building aspects of Cybertron’s culture and how it interacts with its colonies. After Transformers: Cyberverse’s successful run without human companions, Hasbro seems more willing to do more stories on Cybertron set before the planet’s destruction.
Don't Want to See: Post-War Cybertron
The only time fans have ever really seen Cybertron is as a dead husk after both Autobots and Decepticons escaped the planet. Even though War for Cybertron looks like it’ll touch on pre-war elements, the trailers have all shown a dead or dying Cybertron.
Hopefully, the series will have some flashbacks of how Cybertronians previously lived. But overall, fans would like to see more than the dead husk of Cybertron.
Want to See: Cool Fight Scenes
At its heart, Transformers is an action/adventure franchise. With new technology and animation styles, a big draw for any series is the fight scenes. Knowing the constraints of the War for Cybertron style — low framerate CGI — the fight scenes will most likely be somewhat simple, but very creative to keep it engaging.
Fights also need to have a story to them, a struggle, a constant back-and-forth between good and evil. Between the narrative potential and funky camera angles, War for Cybertron has the ability to do some brutal and very interesting combat.
Don't Want to See: Humans
As mentioned before, many fans are over having humans in the Transformers series. When the series is already set on Earth or goes earthbound for a brief time, it makes sense to have some human allies. But with War for Cybertron being aimed at longtime fans, it doesn’t need to include humans as a bridge for the audience to relate to. Older fans are mostly in it for the robots, so having humans at this point would take away from the story of the war rather than add to it.
Want to See: Darker Themes
With the series being aimed at adults, War for Cybertron can push the envelope farther than previous iterations. It has the ability to fully explore the ramifications of a failed revolution and how truly broken and unjust Cybertronian society can be.
The ability to kill characters without it hurting toy sales - adult collectors will buy their favorite characters regardless of whether or not they make it to the end of the show - will up the stakes and make War for Cybertron all the more emotional. Actions can hold some serious weight, Autobots don’t have to be unequivocally good, and Decepticons don’t have to be evil incarnate. Playing with morality in a war story is something a lot of fans are excited to see.
Don't Want to See: Stoic Optimus Prime
For first-time Transformers viewers, this one may be a bit weird. For the last decade, Optimus Prime has been depicted as this larger than life figure. He’s put up on a pedestal by his followers and by the audience. However, he has humble origins and hasn’t always been a stoic, godly figure.
The whole point of Orion Pax transforming into Optimus Prime was to show that everyone has the potential for greatness. In the original series, Orion Pax was just a dock worker who had greatness thrust upon him. Even after becoming Optimus Prime, he never took himself too seriously. He played basketball, made jokes, and laughed with the rest of the Autobots. After years of getting a borderline emotionless Optimus, fans really want to see the emotional walls come down.
Want to See: The Exodus
One of the best parts about being a longtime Transformers fan is knowing the usual stories and seeing how a new series adapts it. With having the exodus from Cybertron confirmed, fans can fall back on the events of Transformers: Prime as well as the novel Transformers Exodus. So far, there’s been three retellings of the exodus, all of which are in the same universe.
Having a new origin story for the exodus, a severely underutilized piece of Cybertron’s history, has fans onboard to see the decisions leading up to the exodus and the actions that forced the Autobots’ hand.
Don't Want to See: The AllSpark
The AllSpark has been in everything since the first Transformers live-action movie came out. After a decade of having Autobots and Decepticons fight over the AllSpark, it’s become a monotonous narrative. Knowing that the AllSpark plays yet another essential role in a Transformers series is a bit disheartening. Fans know what the implications are and it’s a story they’ve seen adapted three too many times.
Want to See: Obscure Characters
Spanning over thirty years, Transformers has a massive roster of characters, but usually sticks to the same ten for the main series. With just a few trailers from War for Cybertron, the series has already confirmed Ironhide, Elita-1, and Cliffjumper as part of the Autobot forces. Other characters included in the IMDb lineup are Mirage and Jetfire, neither of which have been seen in animation for a long time. This is definitely something to get excited about.
Don't Want to See: Wasted Potential
Despite the incredible trio of Hasbro, Netflix, and Rooster Teeth, many fans hesitate in their excitement because of the Machinima web series. Known as Transformers: Prime Wars Trilogy, the web series consisted of three seasons and very loosely followed the Combiner Wars portion of the IDW Transformers comics that ran from 2005 to 2018.
With the vast universe IDW established, fans of the comics were disappointed with how the Prime Wars Trilogy played out. While fans who didn’t read the comics found it enjoyable, the ones watching because of the comics felt that characters felt out of place and some events just didn’t make sense. There was so much creative material to work with, but it felt like the series ignored all of that for no reason. Knowing that some of the Prime Wars Trilogy creative team is coming back for War for Cybertron leaves many fans nervous and skeptical.