Next Wednesday sees the release of Transformers: The Last Knight, the fifth film in the live-action Transformers series and with it comes a pretty drastic heel turn for the heroic Optimus Prime. Ahead of the film’s release, we’ve combed through the vast (and complex) history of Transformers and unearthed the history and changes of the hero for our latest Origins and Evolutions. Check out the Optimus Prime Origins and Evolutions below!
Transformers: The Last Knight shatters the core myths of the Transformers franchise, and redefines what it means to be a hero. Humans and Transformers are at war, Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving our future lies buried in the secrets of the past, in the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Saving our world falls upon the shoulders of an unlikely alliance: Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg); Bumblebee; an English Lord (Sir Anthony Hopkins); and an Oxford Professor (Laura Haddock).
Transformers: The Last Knight also stars Josh Duhamel as Lieutenant Colonel Lennox, Stanley Tucci as Joshua Joyce, Jerrod Carmichael as Desi, and Isabela Moner as the film’s female lead, Izabella. Liam Carrigan (Once Upon a Time) is also set to appear in the film as King Arthur.
Michael Bay returns to the director’s chair for the film, which is written by Iron Man scribes Art Marcum & Matt Holloway and Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down). Ian Bryce, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Don Murphy and Tom DeSanto are producing the sequel.
Origins & Evolutions: Optimus Prime
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Diaclone's
The first Transformers toys were based on Takara's Diaclone toy line, a series of figures from Japan that (you guessed it) transform from vehicles into robots. The “Battle Convoy” figure is what would eventually lead to the creation of Optimus Prime.
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Generation 1
When the first wave of Transformers arrived, Optimus Prime pulled up in the form of a Kenworth K100 truck and quickly became a fan favorite.
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Variants
Many different types of Optimus Primes were made over the years the toyline was around, ranging from various colors to this one of Optimus pulling a Pepsi truck.
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Orion Pax
It was later revealed that before he assumed the mantle of Optimus Prime, the character began his life as Optronix, aka Orion Pax, who had a similar but slightly different build.
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Star Convoy
A Japaneses exclusive variant of Optimus arrived at one point with a bulkier design following one of the character's resurrections and later made it into the pages of a Transformers comic
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Nemesis Prime
This evil clone of Optimus takes on an expected color scheme of black over the bright red/blue of the original.
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Generation 2
The second generation of Tranformers saw an Optimus Prime that was essentially the same; however, additional variants were released such as this “laser rod” Optimus.
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Beast Wars
The animal-themed spin-off of Transformers saw the Optimus character formed after a gorilla instead of a truck and going by the name Optimus Primal. He would keep his name and gorilla look in the eventual follow-up Beast Machines.
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Beast Wars
A later season would see him undergo another transformation (known as "transmetal" in the series) where he retained his gorilla form but inexplicably had a surfboard he could fly on.
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Beast Wars
His final form would be the “Optimal Optimus,” a half-Maximal/half-Autobot body that could transform into a bot, a beast, and two vehicles.
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Beast Wars
One version of the Optimus Prime from Beast Wars (that was only seen in toy form) featured the character not as a gorilla but a bat.
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Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001)
The 2001 reboot of the series saw Optimus return but not as his traditional Kenworth truck. Instead, the leader of the Autobots was a fire engine.
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Unicron Trilogy
Optimus returned in the trilogy of cartoons called the “Unicron Trilogy” with some additional changes in each, including...
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Unicron Trilogy
The first season, titled “Armada.”
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Unicron Trilogy
The second season, titled “Energon.”
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Unicron Trilogy
And the third and final season, titled “Cybertron.”
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Transformers (2007)
The first live-action feature film saw Optimus make his debut as a 1994 Peterbilt truck.
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Transformers: Animated
Following the film, a stylized reboot simply titled Transformers: Animated aired featuring a new version of Optimus.
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Shattered Glass
An alternate universe where the good guys are bad and the bad guys are good, the evil Optimus is a tyrant and saddist.
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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
The sequel saw Optimus mostly the same until he merged with the parts of Jetfire for the film's climactic battle.
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Transformers: TransTech
This alternate universe was a nexus of all other universes and saw an optimistic Optimus (ahem) hoping to create a universe free of war and conflict.
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General Optimus Prime
One canceled toyline saw Optimus as an armored truck (nearly a tank) and going by the name General Optimus Prime.
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Green Lantern Optimus Prime
A canceled crossover with the Justice League would have seen Optimus Prime recruited into the Green Lantern Corps. (far right) and revealed that Wonder Woman's invisible jet was a Transformer!
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Transformers: Prime
Optimus appears in his traditional guise in the series. However...
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Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising
He takes on a bulkier form in its feature length follow-up.
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Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
In the start of the fourth film, Optimus Prime takes on the form of an older truck to maintain a disguise because no one will notice a 30-foot robot.
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Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
Later on, Optimus took on a more familiar look and armed himself with the weapons of Cybertronian knights.
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Optimus Prime Bird
Angry Birds debuted a Transformers spin-off featuring a version of Optimus.
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Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
The latest animated Transformers series naturally featured the return of the character.
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Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
The upcoming film seemingly makes Optimus the antagonist, giving him a slight upgrade in style for his new persona.
