Scarlet Johansson’s Transformers Character Honors A 35-Year-Old Optimus Prime Story Every Movie Avoided

Scarlet Johansson’s role in Transformers One seems to be pulling directly from a classic Transformers plot that’s never been fully replicated in the live-action Transformers films. Set on Cybertron long before the Autobots and Decepticons go to war, Transformers One delves into the origins of characters like Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee. Among the heroic characters featured in the trailer for the film is the female Transformer, Elita-One.

Elita-One is among the Transformers team who seemingly receive a major power boost after encountering Alpha Trion, unlocking her potential. This underscores the apparent importance of the character in the upcoming take on the Transformers series. This also means that Transformers One is pulling from stories that appeared in the original Transformers animated series, directly tying Elita-One into Optimus’ origins. It highlights her important role in the series, and could tease her potential romance with the eventual leader of the Autobots.

Alpha Trion Created Both Optimus Prime & Elita-One In The 1980s Animated Series

How Alpha Trion Transformed Some Of The Most Important Transformers

In the original Transformers animated series, as well as the upcoming Transformers One, Elita-One was transformed by Alpha Trion alongside Optimus Prime. In the original animated continuity, Orion Pax and his love interest Ariel were brought to Alpha Trion after Megatron severely injured them. Alpha was able to unlock their full potential and transform them into new powerful forms, later dubbed Optimus Prime and Elita-One. Transformers One removes that serious injury and instead has Alpha Trion transform the pair alongside the future Megatron and Bumblebee.

Transformers One seems to be pulling from different iterations of Transformers lore, recasting Orion and the future Megatron D-16 as close friends who end up at odds over the future of Cybertron. However, it retains Alpha Trion’s importance and role in unlocking their power. The film also seems to bring Elita-One back to her original place in the franchise, placing her directly alongside Orion and D-16 in terms of importance. However, the trailer doesn’t make it clear if another major aspect of her relationship with Orion will also be in the film.

Will Transformers One Adapt Optimus Prime & Elita-One’s Romance?

Transformers One Could Resurrect A Major Romance From The Original Animated Show

In the original animated continuity as well as later incarnations of the Transformers universe, Optimus Prime and Elita-One shared a romance. When he was still Orion Pax in the original continuity, he was in a relationship with Ariel. The two later fought side-by-side in the war against the Decepticons. This made her death in some continuities all the more painful for Optimus. This romantic element of their relationship was largely dropped for the live-action Transformers films however, which unceremoniously killed off Elita-One in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Although the trailer doesn’t confirm their potential romance, it’s clear that Elita-One is positioned to be a close friend to Optimus. This friendship could become something more, setting the pair up to have the sort of romance they shared in other versions of the franchise. However, there’s also a good chance that Transformers One will instead focus the emotional arc on the doomed friendship between Optimus and Megatron, leaving little room for romance. Whatever the extent of her role in the film, it’s exciting to see Elita-One reassert her importance in the franchise by taking a major role in Transformers One.