Talk:Transformers (film series)

Table bloat

Does the table really need to include the Short films and Web series? It is already a huge table and I don't really see the value in including anything other than the main films in the series. I think they should be removed from the table entirely (instead mentioned only in prose sections). I plan to remove them from the table. I ask in case anyone wants to split them out to a separate table before I get around to removing them. -- 109.76.203.242 (talk) 15:36, 5 December 2022 (UTC)

I agree with you since the main films are far more noteworthy than the short films and web series and should be its own table. Erik (talk | contrib) ^{(ping me)} 16:34, 5 December 2022 (UTC)

I would also delete most one-off rows; scrolling down, it's obvious that the table is too long with indiscriminate roles. Erik (talk | contrib) ^{(ping me)} 16:35, 5 December 2022 (UTC)

I have removed the shorts and web series from the Cast table.[1] (Editors can always go back and split them out into a separate table but) I think the point of the table really should be to highlight the most important recurring roles only. I did what I said I was going to do, that's all for now. -- 109.77.195.44 (talk) 22:31, 11 December 2022 (UTC)

• Yes, someone(s) can make a separate table for the Short films and Web series if really needed (to replace the existing Short film & Web series tables). (-Fnlayson (talk) 22:34, 11 December 2022 (UTC)

One series

All of the Transformers films since 2007 are part of the one series. They are all Paramount. (For contrast the 1986 movie is clearly not part of this series.)

Reliable sources such as Deadline Hollywood simply call Beast Wars the seventh film Transformers 7. (Variety magazine points out that the films "weren’t exactly sticklers for the laws of time and space, either"[2])

Beast Wars might be intended to the start of a new trilogy, but they hoped to make three films with Wahlberg but ultimately that didn't happen. Only in retrospect will we be able to see if there is a clear division and if it is noteworthy. Also if read past the headline, Collider writes " the first of three new installments" [3] and Deadline also refers to Beast Wars as the first of three installments.[4] ie more installments of the same series.

I understand that fans like to subdivide and categorize but there is not a clear division and it isn't a subdivision that matters to normal people or is helpful to encyclopedia readers. -- 109.79.66.134 (talk) 07:57, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

Rise of the Beasts - G.I. Joe easter egg

Should that be placed here in the potential shared universe section or any other spot here? Just wondering. 0Detail-Attention215 (talk) 03:27, 9 June 2023 (UTC)

Trivia info like that does not fit in this overview article, imo. But maybe in the specific film article with quality source(s). -Fnlayson (talk) 03:46, 9 June 2023 (UTC)

Separation of films

I would like to suggest a change to how the films are organized. Based on events in Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts, and comments from people who worked on the films, it’s clear that Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts encompass a new continuity. So I think we should separate them from the Michael bay directed films. 66.244.95.12 (talk) 21:19, 9 June 2023 (UTC)

The current consensus is that they do share the same continuity, but this is being discussed at Talk:Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. InfiniteNexus (talk) 18:25, 10 June 2023 (UTC)

it’s clear that Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts encompass a new continuity it really is not clear at all, otherwise you'd be showing us reliable sources. The producer DiBonaventura has actively avoided using the term reboot[5] and director Caple Jnr said "It doesn’t mess up any of the timeline in 2006, 2007."[6]. The series is full of continuity errors and retcons, but it is all one series (or we'd already be having a serious discussion about splitting this page off). Remember when they claimed Wahlberg was getting a trilogy? Fans are welcome to discuss this as much as they like but this encyclopedia article should stick to the clear facts that are supported by reliable sources. The list is short, the proposed subdivisions aren't as clear as some claim. Attempts to subdivide and subgroup the films does not make this article any clearer to readers and it is not something that makes this a better encyclopedia. -- 109.255.172.191 (talk) 19:46, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

Yeah except the actual experts in fandom disagree especially considering that lorenzo di bonaventura doesn't know shit on what he's talking about Adam p. Hardy (talk) 11:12, 26 July 2024 (UTC)

Operation Skyfire

Concept art[7] is interesting to see and I'm sure it made a nice Blurary extra for The Last Knight. But it is inaccurate for an encyclopedia to claim it represents a "Cancelled film", when it represents only a concept, there is no indication that any script existed, there is no indication that any project entered development, or was greenlit, therefore there was no film to ever be cancelled.

Unless editors can find a more accurate way to present this concept art the section will need to be removed. -- 109.77.196.204 (talk) 18:55, 7 August 2023 (UTC)

I removed the inaccurate section from the article.diff -- 109.77.196.204 (talk) 19:18, 7 August 2023 (UTC)

Michael Bay series?

Did the Michael Bay series end in 5 films? There are other Transformers films with different directors. 2601:195:C081:250:15BB:534D:E04E:7DE3 (talk) 10:24, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

Different directors yes, but still the same series. Bay remains as producer. -- 109.78.196.145 (talk) 18:15, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

Crossover could finally be on future films?

Is IGN a viable source according to it here at CinemaCon 2024 Paramount confirmed the crossover is occurring. 0Detail-Attention215 (talk) 21:02, 11 April 2024 (UTC)

The IGN article says Paramount has officially confirmed at CinemaCon 2024 that a Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover movie will be released in theaters in 2025 or 2026. So no firm release date. Rather than ask is IGN is a good enough source I would instead use a better source like Deadline Hollywood, they note that that "No filmmaker attached yet". So no director. At this point Paramount has only confirmed that the film is in early development and so many things could change, or fall through entirely.

For the purposes of an encyclopedia article there is very little actually useful information so far. The announcement maybe merits adding one more line to the Crossovers section. -- 109.79.67.109 (talk) 00:45, 13 April 2024 (UTC)

Cast table needs prose

I'm going to tag the Cast table with {{Table section needs prose}}. I'll explain, the table is enormous filled with many non-recurring roles, only a few of the roles are noteworthy and prose could summarize the most interesting ones. A table or graph should reveal information that would not otherwise be easily noticed, but this table doesn't help answer the question which actors have played multiple roles, which prose could do better (Frank Welker played many roles, and Steven Buscemi gets a second appearance with the upcoming Tranformers One film). I will get around to doing this myself eventually if no one else does it but first I will tag the section. -- 109.79.72.19 (talk) 21:47, 8 August 2024 (UTC)

The information I think most important is the recurring roles, or actors playing different roles, i.e. that fact that Peter Cullen voiced Optimus Prime across 8 films and Frank Welker voiced a variety of different characters across 5 films (2-7). I suppose the section should also briefly summarize that the first 3 films were lead by Shia LaBeouf and that the next two films were lead by Mark Wahlberg. -- 109.77.202.228 (talk) 01:31, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

Removing the bloated cast and characters list out to another article page makes this page less bloated but it doesn't really fix the bigger problem with that table being awful and bloated and not particularly useful to readers. I still think this article would benefit from a brief paragraph of prose explaining the most import major cast and perhaps some of the recurring cast. -- 109.77.199.250 (talk) 20:26, 14 November 2024 (UTC)

Transformers One

I think we should remove this from this article. The subject of this article is specifically the live-action film series that begin with the 2007 Michael Bay film — for instance, it doesn't include The Transformers: The Movie (1986) or the two other animated films. Transformers One does not appear to share the continuity of the live-action films, and there is no mention of the film series on the Transformers One article. InfiniteNexus (talk) 19:33, 28 September 2024 (UTC)

@InfiniteNexus: I have gone ahead and done so, as well as pruning the massive cast and characters table. Only characters that have appeared more than once are now included.★Trekker (talk) 00:17, 3 October 2024 (UTC)

Awesome, thanks. InfiniteNexus (talk) 22:10, 9 October 2024 (UTC)

Whether or not it shares continuity (this series was never great at avoiding contradictions) TF One is from the same producers, I was somewhat surprised to see it excluded entirely from this article. It is going to be confusing, especially since the lead section of Transformers One makes such a big deal about it being a prequel and coming out of the same series. It would seem easier to include it briefly in this article, but if you don't restore it then you at least need to do some cleanup the Transformers One article so it is not putting so much emphasis on it. -- 109.77.199.250 (talk) 20:26, 14 November 2024 (UTC)

Transformers One belongs on Transformers (franchise). This article is specifically about the live-action series. Again, I'll note that this article also does not include The Transformers: The Movie and others. InfiniteNexus (talk) 23:48, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

I'd have to check the article history to be sure but I'm fairly sure the pedantic "live action" distinction was only recently (months) added by an anon editor without any discussion (and splitting TF One out into a separate sub-table). Again they're all from the same production team (which 1984 TT:TM cleary is not), and as a simple matter of organization I would not have created a subgroup without at least 3 of these new animated films. While I again disagree with the assertion and find it a strange choice to exclude Transformers One from this article, I do not feel strongly about it, so if you are willing to do the work to make this deliberate distinction and do the necessary maintenance work then go for it (as I see you have started to do[8] but you also need to edit List of Transformers film series cast and characters if you're going to make this distinction consistently). My main concern is that Transformers fans can be a bit pedantic and that this might result in yet another slow dumb edit war as people keep trying to add it back to this and other articles, especially since that film claims to be a prequel (the very definition of the word prequel implies part of a series). -- 109.77.203.140 (talk) 19:03, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Something can be a prequel without being part of this specific series. One is a prequel in the sense that it takes place before the main storyline of the franchise.★Trekker (talk) 13:44, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Precisely. The Planet of the Apes reboot series (which started with Rise and is continuing with Kingdom) is a prequel, but it doesn't share the same continuity as the original series (which started with Planet and ended with Battle). So, if articles were to be created for those two series, they would be separate articles. InfiniteNexus (talk) 18:16, 17 November 2024 (UTC)