Warning! This article contains spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is loosely based on Beast Wars from the 1990s, meaning the story makes some changes to fit live-action Transformers. The inclusion of the Maximals is one of the biggest giveaways that Rise of the Beasts is based on Beast Wars, featuring the animal-like Autobots in integral roles. However, because the film is a soft reboot of Michael Bay’s Transformers series, it caters to the visual language, style, and world of those films.
As a result, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts cannot fully commit to adapting Beast Wars. The original Beast Wars series was both a prequel and sequel to the original 80s Transformers series. Bay’s original movies did not closely adapt the 80s series, meaning Rise of the Beasts loosely fits the story of the five pre-Bumblebee live-action films. Due to this, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts makes plenty of changes to the original cartoon on which it was based, from its characters to its story and villain, that will likely continue into Transformers 8 and 9.
8 Rise Of The Beasts Is Not Set On Prehistoric Earth
One of the biggest changes that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts makes to the original Beast Wars is its setting. As mentioned, Beast Wars is initially set 300 years after the original Transformers series before an event transports the Maximals tens of thousands of years into the past. The series is then set on prehistoric Earth, before the events of The Transformers. While Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is technically a prequel to Bay’s movies, it is set in the 1990s. The Maximals have been on Earth for a long time in the film, but the crux of the story is not centered in the prehistoric era.
7 The Terrorcons Are The Villains Of Rise Of The Beasts (Not Predacons)
In Beast Wars, the villains of the show are the Predacons, the distant descendants of the Decepticons. Just like how the Maximals take the form of beasts, the Predacons take the form of various animals and dinosaurs. However, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts features the Terrorcons as the villains. The Terrorcons are intergalactic bounty hunters who come into conflict with the Autobots and Maximals at the behest of the evil deity Unicron.
6 Unicron Is The Main Antagonist Of Rise Of The Beasts
In Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Unicron is searching for a transwarp key that will enable him to travel instantaneously through space and time. If he obtained this key, Unicron could devour as many planets as he desired, threatening all life in the galaxy. Unicron sends the Terrorcons after this key, with the Autobots and Maximals vowing to stop him – something that will likely continue in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts‘ sequel. In Beast Wars, Unicron is referenced a few times but is largely absent from the story, with Megatron – in Predacon form – being the main antagonist of the show.
5 Rise Of The Beasts Is Not Linked To The Autobot-Decepticon War
The original Beast Wars show is set thousands of years before the Autobots awaken on Earth, acting as a prequel to the Great War featured in the original series. From the Maximals and Predacons finding the Ark and Nemesis ships on Earth which house the Autobots and the Decepticons respectively to the attempts at keeping the timeline intact, Beast Wars heavily links to the Autobot-Decepticon war of the future. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, however, does not link to the live-action version of this war seen in Michael Bay’s movies.
Rise of the Beasts centers on the Maximals and Autobots stopping Unicron. As a result, the film acts as a soft reboot of Bay’s movies, meaning it does not reference the future events of those films at all even in Rise of the Beasts’ post-credit scene. This marks a big change from Beast Wars, which still centered on the war between the Autobots and Decepticons.
4 Megatron Is Not In Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
As Transformers: Rise of the Beasts does not link to the Autobot-Decepticon war, Megatron does not make an appearance in the film. Instead, the main antagonist – besides Unicron – is Scourge, the leader of the Terrorcons. Throughout Beast Wars though, Megatron is the primary villain. Megatron’s goal in Beast Wars is to destroy the human race before it can even be born, therefore changing the events of the Great War in the future to ensure a Decepticon victory. Rise of the Beasts though, has no mention of Megatron whatsoever.
3 Rise Of The Beasts Does Not Include All Of Beast Wars Maximals
Given that Beast Wars ran for a total of three seasons and 39 episodes, the series had the chance to include plenty of Maximal characters. Optimus Primal. Airazor, Rhinox, and Cheetor all appear in Rise of the Beasts, but that is only four of the many Maximals involved in Beast Wars. Some of the others from the original show that are not in the live-action film include Rattrap, Dinobot, Tigatron, Silverbolt, and Depth Charge. The beast forms of these characters in Beast Wars are a rat, velociraptor, white tiger, wolf-eagle hybrid, and manta ray respectively.
2 The Autobots Help The Maximals In Rise Of The Beasts (Unlike Beast Wars)
The core plot of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts centers on the Autobots aiding the Maximals. Both factions of Transformer are threatened by Unicron in the film, therefore teaming up as a means of stopping the god and his Terrorcon allies. However, Beast Wars is a prequel to the original Transformers series, meaning the Autobots remain in stasis during the events of the show. As a result, Beast Wars is centered entirely on the Maximals who fend off the Predacons in an attempt to safeguard the Autobots’ future against the Decepticons.
1 Rise of the Beasts Changes The Maximals’ Goal
During Beast Wars, the Maximals are trying to return to their home of Cybertron before they become embroiled in the battle against the Predacons. This is changed in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, with the Maximals being shown on a different planet than Cybertron at the beginning of the movie. After leaving their homeworld, the Maximals seek refuge on Earth. While the Autobots wish to return to Cybertron, the Maximals are shown to be content on Earth. Only when Unicron threatens Earth do the Maximals intervene in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, in a bid to protect their new home rather than return to their old one.
