Transformers One Sequel - Will It Ever Happen?

"Transformers One" is arguably the best movie the franchise has ever released. We've seen cartoon Transformers and live-action Transformers, but 2024's acclaimed CG-animated film really took things to another level. From the voice performances to the story to the art direction, "Transformers One" really put everything fans love about the series on full display.

The movie functions as an origin story for characters we know and love, like Optimus Prime and Megatron, while giving us the best look at Cybertron, the homeworld of the Transformers, that we've ever seen. For hardcore fans and loreheads alike, it couldn't get much better — but there's still plenty of story left to tell. Fans are dying to see what other "Transformers" stories could be told by this cast and animation team, but the future's looking pretty uncertain at the moment. Will a "Transformers One" sequel ever happen? Let's break down everything we know.

We know that "Transformers" fans absolutely love "Transformers One," and we also know that almost everyone else seems to agree with them. The movie boasts an 89% approval rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences gave it a stunning 97%. The reviews, basically, couldn't be much stronger — but, unfortunately, that's not what's holding back work on a sequel.

The sad truth is, not many people showed up to see the iconic Autobots and Decepticons' origin story in theaters. There are a handful of reasons why "Transformers One" bombed at the box office, but the bottom line is that the movie didn't make nearly enough money for the studio to immediately greenlight a sequel. In fact, its performance was so disappointing that it forced the studio to seriously reconsider its future movie-making plans. Not long after "Transformers One" debuted, Hasbro announced that it was shifting away from making more movies about not just this franchise, but the other properties it had planned to expand on with theatrical projects. Unless Hasbro changes its tune, a "Transformers One" sequel is likely dead in the water.

That said, it's not all bad news for a potential "Transformers One" sequel. At least one cast member from the movie is incredibly enthusiastic about the possibility of coming back for more. Brian Tyree Henry played Megatron, whose story was really just beginning in "Transformers One," and he's stated on multiple occasions that he's game for more.

Speaking with ScreenRant, Henry said, "Well, you can't have a 'Transformers One' in the title without having a 'Transformers Two,' you know what I mean?" He also pointed to the fact that the first movie left the story in a very open-ended place. "We still gotta see what happens with Megatron and Optimus," Henry said, making it clear that he's on the side of the fans in this particular debate. None of this is too surprising considering what he's said about the role. Among other things, Henry has mentioned how big of a "Transformers" fan he was as a kid and how special it was for him to get the opportunity to play the iconic villain. It's nice to know that while they're waiting for news on a sequel, "Transformers One" fans can at least rest assured that someone else is out there, pushing for the story to continue.

There's at least one more encouraging sign that a "Transformers One" sequel isn't completely out of the question: director Josh Cooley is absolutely ready for more. As an origin story, "Transformers One" shows us sides of characters that we've never gotten to see before, but by the end of the movie, there's still a large gap between the characters we meet in the prequel and the characters we know they'll become. That's something Cooley continues to hope to explore further.

Speaking with Newsweek, Cooley explained that he views the relationship between Optimus and Megatron as the heart of the entire "Transformers" franchise, and he has ideas about where to take that relationship in another movie. "Transformers Two," if it ever happens, will once again feature those two at the center of the plot.

The sequel might also get even more visually complicated by mixing different forms of media together. "I'd love to do live-action," Cooley said. "I'd also love to do a hybrid film. I love 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit.' It's a big film that I loved growing up, something in that realm." A hybrid "Transformers" movie would definitely be something new, but we'll have to wait and see if Cooley gets the chance to transform that particular idea into a reality.

We know that if a "Transformers One" sequel ever happens, Optimus and Megatron are pretty much a lock to be the two leads, and it's hard to imagine a "Transformers" movie without iconic characters like Bumblebee or Starscream making an appearance. Because of that, it's a safe guess that most of the cast members from "Transformers One" would return. Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry are integral to this new version of Optimus and Megatron, so at the very least, both of them would certainly be in a sequel.

It's much harder to say what new cast members would jump on board the sequel. There's no shortage of vital "Transformers" characters to introduce, including plenty of characters that fans have gotten to see in the live-action films. Because there's a pretty clear distinction between the world of the live-action movies and the world of "Transformers One," any pre-existing characters from the Michael Bay era would almost definitely be recast if the animated movie ever manages to land a sequel. Part of what made "Transformers One" so exciting was getting to experience new actors tackling beloved characters, so its follow-up would likely lean into that approach.

"Transformers One" may have flopped at the box office, but that really doesn't mean anything with regard to the film's quality. There are plenty of animated bombs that are worth watching, though admittedly not very many of them got sequels. The reviews and reactions from people who did see "Transformers One" almost unanimously agree that the movie is excellent and that its lackluster financial performance doesn't have much to do with the movie itself.

Maybe the popularity of "Transformers One" will continue to grow thanks to all those reviews. If enough buzz is generated after the fact, that excitement might be able to convince Hasbro to greenlight a sequel despite the poor performance of the first movie. "Transformers" fans are desperately hoping that's the case; on the franchise's official subreddit, many of them are still busy praising "Transformers One" and calling for a sequel. It'd take an extremely large fan campaign to generate enough buzz to get a movie studio to pay attention, but nothing is impossible.