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From Vince Brusio of Previews World, we have some more information about the upcoming IDW Publishing Hasbro Universe event First Strike - which will apparently change the concept of shared universe even further - courtesy of an interview with the two writers Mairghread Scott and David Rodriguez! The full piece can be read here, but some relevant snippets (such as who is directly involved, and what is the role played by Joe Colton in it all) are copied below - check them out, and beware that some spoilers for current stories are present!
Vince Brusio: What core idea helped to first strike sparks for this story? How did the concept of this Hasbro crossover first begin, and then grow to the point where it took two writers to make it all fit?
Mairghread Scott: The core concept is two-fold: IDW and Hasbro very much wanted G.I. Joe on Cybertron – a fight so big it dragged all the other Hasbro brands into it, and that idea is super-fun! The two franchises have a long history together and it’s definitely something I was interested in exploring. But I wanted to bring a second, more personal, layer to the story and so we hit on our central theme. Scarlett, the head of G.I. Joe is now being pitted against her own mentor, Joe Colton, who seems to be hell-bent on dragging Earth into an interplanetary war!
So it’s not just a question of saving the Transformers, or saving all of Earth, it’s also a question of saving one man in the midst of this who means the world to you. Is it really Colton doing this? Could he be brainwashed or coerced? If not, can he be redeemed? That balance is one we’re really striving for in this book. Big action, but with a big heart behind it.
David Rodriguez: It gives the entire story a great, emotional core. We’re all for piles of ninjas (so many ninjas) and explosions, but having this conflict that the series pivots on grounds it in stakes that are relatable on a human level. And to make matters more interesting, Colton is not a supervillain with a grandiose or cartoonish plan. He is thoughtful, tactical and incredibly dangerous. He’s spent years planning and assembling the execution of this mission. And Scarlett knows that Colton would not have pulled the trigger unless he knew he had a reasonable shot at pulling this off. So even though the Transformers think the humans pose little to no threat to Cybertron, the reality is that the entire planet is in very real and immediate danger.
[...]
Mairghread Scott: Well, fighting global genocide should never take away from petty squabbling. Naturally our primary heroes (Scarlett and her team from G.I. Joe, Matt and Gloria from MASK, Soundwave and Optimus from Transformers) get along fairly well, they’re not without conflict. Lady Jaye throws a lot of shade at people and Soundwave is not a fan of humans, but his character is weirdly adorable. (He’s really trying to be respectful of these vastly inferior, squishable things but…ugh.)
On the bad guys’ side, keeping competing minds like Storm Shadow from GI Joe and Shazraella from Micronauts (who gets a big upgrade in our story) together is a tall order. Miles Mayhem totally lives up to his name and it’s a joy to write whenever he gets cut down a peg. But they’re not the only people causing trouble. Elita One ends up throwing a wrench in everyone’s works when she steamrolls in with her own agenda. Let’s just say she makes Starscream seem like an upright citizen.
David Rodriguez: The twins (Skyburst and Stormclash) might be my new favorites. I wasn't really familiar with them before the series, but after researching them and seeing them in action in the story I am totally smitten. They have so much energy in their designs and personality that its hard not to enjoy every panel that they're on. But what is great about the human characters is that they hold their own in every scene. Any normal person would be dwarfed (in every sense) by the Transformers, but there really isn't anything “normal” about Scarlett and her team. They rise to the occasion and stand shoulder to shoulder with their robot allies. (Well, metaphorically. In the literal sense they sometimes stand on their shoulders. But that's purely tactical). The other duo that caught me by surprise are Stormshadow and Shaz. They need to have their own, buddy-villain, spin-off after this is said and done. Luckily vans and talking animals are easy to come by.
Fellow Seibertronian Daniel Adkins has spotted over on CBR an interview with IDW Publishing editor David Hedgecock about the next event in the company's planned Hasbro franchises crossover: First Strike! The interview can be read in full here, and some snippets of interest below, such as the end of most major (non-TF, bar Till All Are One) series, rebranding into First Strike monickers as of September, and why that might be. Also included are solicits and covers for some of the books - check it all out!
IDW Publishing’s next Hasbro crossover is looming, and it looks to have an even bigger impact on the line than fans might have initially guessed. First Strike, which brings together Transformers, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K. and more, gets going next week with a #0 issue from co-writers Mairghread Scott & David A. Rodriguez and artist Max Dunbar, also the creative team of the main six-issue First Strike miniseries which kicks off with twice-monthly issues in August.
Along with the imminent debut comes the news that some of IDW’s current licensed Hasbro books will end in August — due to a “seasonal” model and in-story changes brought by the events of First Strike. August will bring the last issues of G.I. Joe (with #9), M.A.S.K. (#10), Micronauts: Wrath of Karza (#5) and Rom (#14).
But those characters, naturally, aren’t going away for good — September sees a G.I. Joe: First Strike by Aubrey Sitterson and Ilias Kyriazis and a Micronauts: First Strike one-shot by Christos Gage and Chris Panda; October follows with a M.A.S.K.: First Strike one-shot from Sitterson and Kyriazis and Rom: First Strike from Christos Gage and Chris Panda. Additionally, a Optimus Prime: First Strike one-shot is scheduled for September from John Barber and Guido Guidi; Barber is joined by artist Guido Guidi in October for the Transformers: First Strike one-shot in October.
Then in November, a new series titled G.I. Joe: Unmasked (uniting G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K.) is set to debut in the wake of First Strike, and Rom & The Micronauts is slated for December.
[...]
2. For story reasons that will become clear during First Strike, the titles we’re drawing to a close won’t really make any sense any more! After the events of First Strike, we’ve got plans for radically new, fresh takes on some of these properties and we want to signify how important the changes are. We couldn’t do that and keep the current series titles in place.
[...]
This is coming a year after Revolution — are you planning on annual Hasbro events?
We have a three-year story arc in mind for the shared Hasbro universe. First Strike is the second act. While Revolution brought everything together, First Strike is the first chance we get to see the ramifications of this bold direction we’ve undertaken, and it leads us directly into… well, I can’t wait to tell you what it leads us into but I can’t just yet!
G.I. JOE: First Strike #1—Cover A: Drew Johnson—SPOTLIGHT
Aubrey Sitterson (w) • Ilias Kyriazis (a) • Drew Johnson (c)
As Scarlett heads off to Cybertron to confront the events of First Strike, her G.I. Joe team on Earth faces an unusual enemy… V.E.N.O.M.! With the help of a former M.A.S.K. member, G.I. Joe looks to put an end to Miles Mayhem’s sinister group once and for all, in the Greatest Crossover One-Shot Of All Time!
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/27/17
G.I. JOE: First Strike #1—Cover B: Ilias Kyriazis
Aubrey Sitterson (w) • Ilias Kyriazis (a & c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/27/17
*Retailer incentives: Order 10 copies, get one free variant cover by Nick Bradshaw!
Micronauts: First Strike #1—Cover A: Nelson Daniel—SPOTLIGHT
Christos Gage (w) • Chris Panda (a) • Nelson Daniel (c)
Rom, remaining on Earth as the events of First Strike take place, finds himself in a most unusual team-up… with Earth’s smallest heroes, The Micronauts! Together, these two forces must prevent a catastrophe on Earth even while Cybertron descends into chaos!
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/13/17
Micronauts: First Strike #1—Cover B: Chris Panda
Christos Gage (w) • Chris Panda (a & c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/13/17
*Retailer incentives: Order 10 copies, get one free variant cover by Nick Bradshaw!
Optimus Prime: First Strike #1—Cover A: Sara Pitre-Durocher—SPOTLIGHT
John Barber (w) • Guido Guidi (a) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (c)
With Cybertron under siege by Baron Ironblood’s forces, Optimus Prime and Arcee defend their homeland! Caught in the middle is the human/Transformer team known as the Revolutionaries—and one of them has a secret that puts everyone at risk!
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/20/17
Optimus Prime: First Strike #1—Cover B: Guido Guidi
John Barber (w) • Guido Guidi (a & c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/20/17
*Retailer incentives: Order 10 copies, get one free variant cover by Nick Bradshaw!
During Seibertron.com's visit to Kabam Games in Vancouver, we were able to meet the creative staff behind their Transformers Forged to Fight free to play game. We interviewed the following key players:
Cuz Parry : Head writer (has previously written the entire Skate series)
Mike McCartney: Game Director
Adam Cooper: Lead character artist
Pablo Greenham: Lead environment artist
Marcelo Matere: Promotional artist (Packaging artist for Hasbro since Armada)
Darren Evenson: Character designer
Nick Williams: Lead VFX artist
Derek Ng-Cummings: Animator
When did you discover Transformers?
Cuz: In 84 when it was playing. I was 18 at the time and me and my friends would sometimes chill watching 80s cartoons like Transformers and He-Man
Derek: G1 in 85
Darren: G1 in the mid 80s, I got Hoist for Christmas.
Nick: The toys and G1 cartoon in 1984. I had many of them as a kid, like Hot Rod, Ultra Magnus and Optimus.
Pablo: In 84 with the show.
Mike: My dad would go on business trips a lot and would always bring me something back. Once he brought me back G1 Hound, my very first Transformer. I loved him and brought him everywhere. One day I was at the grocery store and was looking at those capsule machines. I left him on top of the machine to put the money in and since I was only thinking of what prize I had gotten, I forgot about Hound. When I went back to get him, he was gone. I was seven and still remember it clearly.
Marcelo: 86 since Brazil got the cartoons a bit later.
Adam: 1985-86 with both the cartoons and toys.
Favourite Transformers character growing up?
Cuz: I liked how Cliffjumper was such a grumpy d&#k. I also liked Jazz since he was pretty much the same as Hong Kong Phooey, also voiced by Scatman Crothers.
Derek: Optimus Prime
Darren: Jetfire, I love how he traded sides.
Nick: Jetfire
Pablo: Optimus Prime
Mike: Shockwave and Soundwave
Marcelo: Grimlock and the Dinobots
Adam: Preaking and the Predacons. My favourite moment was in a G1 comic when they battled Megatron.
Adam Cooper explaining how he wanted Rhinox's Beast Mode to resemble more like the G1 Predacons
Favourite Transformers era design wise?
Cuz: The Generations toys, which are G1 but with more detail on their surfaces.
Derek: G1
Darren: G1
Nick: G1
Pablo: Prime, just a great mix of G1 and a more detailed movie aesthetic.
Mike: G1
Marcelo: Transformers Animated
Adam: IDW (especially All Hail Megatron)
Marcelo's art was found across the studio's walls
Favorite movie design?
Cuz: Hound and Bonecrusher. I really like how the later moves in the film, like he’s scating. Plus he has those massive over the shoulder shovels.
Derek: Bumblebee, with more noticeable car kibble.
Darren: Bumblebee, with the chest clearly made of car parts.
Nick: Drift and Hot Rod
Pablo: Demolishor, it was unlike any other Transformers design.
Mike: Drift from Age of Extinction, I love that Samurai look.
Marcelo: Barricade but only from the first trilogy. I do not like his redesign in The Last Knight. I liked how he had more car parts previously and his head didn’t have 6 eyes. Now the designs all make the bots look similar to each other with the alt mode kibble morphing and shaping up their bodies to all have similar humanoid looks, which makes them less unique from bot to bot.
Adam: Megatron in both Dark of the Moon and The Last Knight.
Marcelo (in the background) drew all attendees their favourite character from the game
Favourite character to fight with in the game?
Cuz: Bumblebee
Derek: Bludgeon
Darren: Windblade
Nick: Motormaster
Pablo: Windblade
Mike: Bonecrusher
Marcelo: Windblade
Adam: Bludgeon
What is your preferred strategy when playing?
Cuz: I use Ironhide to go through lower level bots, using his #2 special. Since range weapons can be avoided, I preffer getting in, hitting with the heavy attack while trying to get the opponent against the wall.
Derek: With Bludgeon, I use ranged attacks as much as possible until I can use special #2.
Darren: Windblade’s sword has a high bleed and she can avoid ranged attacks well. I fight at a distance and then I carve up with the sword.
Nick: I never use the special #3, with Motormaster, I use special #1 as soon as I get it because of the range.
Pablo: I never use specials.
Mike: I use autofight on raids. When fighting, I block and wait for an opening.
Marcelo: tap tap tap, heavy attack.
Adam: With Bludgeon I like mixing up range with heavy attacks while waiting for a special.
Here is a video of youtuber Steelsh showing us Bludgeon's specials
You'll remember we covered the upcoming Netflix documentary The Toys that Made Us, which will span a number of toy brands and franchises from the 80s, one for each of the eight episodes. Along with Lego, Hello Kitty, Star Trek, and others, Transformers is also in the mix - and do you know who else it will feature?
Seibertron.com creator and owner himself, Ryan Yzquierdo! As announced by the official Facebook page for the series, he'll be showing up in the Transformers episode, once the series streams in January 2018. Let us know if you'll be watching, and join the discussion in the Energon Pub!
Ryan Yzquierdo, the owner of Seibertron.com and a Transformers toy collector, is featured in #TTTMU! #Transformers
We already know what Anthony Hopkins thinks of Michael Bay as a director, but we now have some more discussion about the man, the filming, and the car chase scenes that he took part in during the shooting of Transformers: The Last Knight! Courtesy of TV3 Ireland, who report an interview in Men's Health magazine, we have some tidbits about he behind the scenes. Check some snippets out below!
"I had two American stunt drivers who were crazy," he told Men's Health magazine. "I had to sit in this kind of jet car. It was a low seat, hard to get into the damn thing. So they strap you in, you take a deep breath, here we go, and, 'Action!'
"And then there are these helicopters flying low, which is scary, and you're doing 80 miles through the Admiralty Arch (in London). Of course something could go wrong. You could get killed, I guess. But I come from the school of 'just get on with it.'"
[...]
The director has a reputation for being tough to work with but Anthony, 79, didn't find that to be the case.
"I've worked with some people who are impossible or incompetent; Michael is the opposite of that," he insisted. "He's not just competent, he's a kind of genius. Very prepared. He's impatient and irascible, but there's a great sense of humour in him."
Starting the week with some Transformers: The Last Knight news, we have that Empire Magazine article (scanned by TFW2005 user Temenos) we've seen being thrown about for a while now, that accompanies the various online versions and interviews. Talking to Michael Bay directly and the writers for the movie itself, the piece covers production for TLK, and adds information about the director, the creation process and future Transformers projects with Paramount, such as the Bumblebee solo movie - apparently set in the 1980s, and probably aimed at a younger audience - and an animated prequel on Transformers lore and mythology, set on Cybertron as rumoured - the writers for Ant-Man, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, will be behind it.
Some other stand-out take-aways from the piece: The final version for the story ultimately came down to writers Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down), Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (both on Iron Man). Two pitches made into the story, but three storylines are present overall (King Arthur, WWII, and a third - probably the space/Quintessa material). Multiple time settings were considered in the writer's room pitches, and it seems that an Ancient Rome movie may appear at some point. The sixth movie was drafted before TLK was completely polished up, so it's bound to change before actual production.
Also, Michael Bay lost his hair and his dog during production of this film. And John Turturro's Simmons character is based on Bay.
In other Transformers: The Last Knight news, we have a new piece by Empire magazine featuring an interview with Paramount's robot franchise producer Ian Bryce! The full piece can be read here, but we've selected some snippets below on his collaboration with Michael Bay, the effects, the locations they used for the movie, and the future of the franchise. Check it out!
How would you describe what you do with Michael?
It’s sort of my job to help guide him and show him how we can get there efficiently. But he’s got a really good tummy himself. He knows what his day is and then I help manage the big picture for him and figure out how to get him from one place to the other, getting through it on time. Mike is prodigiously fast. The minute he arrives he starts shooting and he doesn’t stop until he goes home. For the size of movie and the scope and scale of the movie, our schedules are very competitive.
[...]
What was it like working on the Arthurian battle?
It was really fun actually, because neither one of us had done it. If you’re fans of movies like Gladiator, The Longest Day, any period battle sequences... The trick for us was to figure out how to give it the scale that the movie deserved and fitted in a financial box that was necessary. We made the battle quite a bit bigger than originally intended, just because we felt that being part of the opening sequence of the movie we really needed to grab the audience’s attention. It was shot in three days but we jammed a lot of stuff into that sequence with horse stunts and archers and fire and spinning balls, the trebuchet. We got a lot in there.
[...]
What are your thoughts on how this Transformers universe is opening up and spiralling out?
The Bumblebee spin-off is scheduled to shoot this summer and release next year. The conceiving of it was done previously, back in the writers room, so now they’re beginning to execute that. I think each one is somewhat reliant on the last one. If this movie is well received then you make that judgement when the movie comes out and push to the next movie. It’s been that way throughout the franchise, we never really committed to the next one until the last one came out and we saw what happened. We’ve taken a one step at a time approach, trying to be faithful to the audience. If they still love it, we keep doing it.
After Bumblebee fighting Barricade for some soda, check out the new Empire magazine exclusive still image from the upcoming Transformers: The Last Knight live-action movie, featuring the scout battling one of the TRF drones in what is probably Chicago! Also included below is a part of the interview with the writers that will appear in the print version of the magazine. Check them both out, and let us know what you think in the Energon Pub.
The photo shows series regular and Autobot hero Bumblebee, in amongst a traditional Michael Bay conflagration. The new issue of Empire features some extraordinary access to the action movie director, detailing some eye-popping insights into the billion-dollar franchise and its new writers-room approach.
The last film in the franchise was, Age Of Extinction, was “kind of an outlier,” Bay explains in the new Empire. “Because of losing Shia and just figuring out where we were gonna go. It was testing the waters a little bit. This gets us back in the groove”.
Bay’s writers, meanwhile, tell us how they quickly realised that pretty much anything they asked for, they’d get. They had written an English castle-dweller called Sir Edmund Burton, who holds secrets of Transformers lore. “We said, ‘He’s an Anthony Hopkins-type character,’” says co-writer Ken Nolan. “And two days later Michael’s like, ‘So, we’ve got Anthony Hopkins.’” Another new character is Cogman, a psychotic robot butler (“He constantly wants to kill people,” says co-writer Art Marcum) who has been excitedly described by Spielberg as “the greatest four-and-a-half-foot character since Yoda”. Co-writer Matt Holloway, a Downton Abbey fan, one day said as an aside, “It would be so funny if Jim Carter voiced this character.” A short while later, Bay announced, “Jim Carter — we got him.” “It’s good to be Bay,” says Nolan. “Everybody says yes.”
From the cast of Transformers: The Last Knight, now out on June 21st 2017 (two days earlier than initially planned), Isabela Moner spoke to the New York Times about her approach to the casting and acting with director Michael Bay - getting used to the 'nothing is really there' trademark of the live action movies! Check it out below.
ISABELA MONER
“Transformers: The Last Knight” (June 23)
To win a role in the latest “Transformers,” Ms. Moner sent a self-tape from her home in Cleveland. “I was nervous. I had just turned 14 and was intimidated by the fact that it’s such a big franchise and I’d be stepping into one of the leads.”
The director Michael Bay wanted to see more and asked her to fly to Los Angeles for a screen test. “The hairstylist said, ‘We’re going to come up with the look for the movie.’ Then Michael walks in and he’s like, ‘We might have to cut your hair.’ I’m like, ‘What? Right now?’” Luckily the new look let her keep her long tresses. “So we dodged a bullet on that one.”
She and Mr. Bay went to a studio parking lot, where he asked her to pretend a Transformer was looming above as he filmed. He told her, “‘I want you to shout things at him, be really mean and challenge him.’ So I did what he wanted me to do, and he did as much as he could without actually having to pay me to be there. What was supposed to be a 30-minute meeting turned into a three-hour fun day of just a low-budget ‘Transformers.’”
AIPT! has done an interview with Bob Budiansky. In the interview he speaks about which of the nostalgic characters he helped to name and how he decided on those names.
"I remember of the Decepticons, there were three jet fighters. So I had to come up with names that evoked power, menace, insanity, danger, evil – so I came up with Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker." - Bob Budiansky
This interview is a fascinating read for any Transformers fan who is interested in the creation of the series. It is also helpful for newer fans to get a glimpse of the series history. One of the coolest facts of the article is about how he named Megatron.
"Megatron – I had to fight for that one. Hasbro initially turned it down because they felt it was too scary, because back in the 1980s, megatons meant nuclear bombs and had a very scary connotation, which was my intent. So when Hasbro turned it down, I realized it’s Hasbro’s product, they can do whatever they want. I’m the new guy, they don’t know me. On other occasions, they turned down names, but with Megatron, I felt it had a nice ring to it and I fought for it. They said it was too scary and I said, well, he is the head of the bad guys, he’s supposed to be scary. So they reconsidered." - Bob Budiansky
The interview is chock full of interesting facts, and is definitely a worthy read. We highly recommend you check it out!
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