Transformers 7: Who are the Maximals in Rise of the Beasts? Explained

Transformers 7 is about to bring a new breed of Transformers into the mix. So far, we’ve only seen the Autobots battle the Decepticons over territory. But now, in the rebooted continuity of Transformers begun by Bumblebee, we’ll be witnessing the arrival of the Maximals and Terrocons.

The Maximals will be the protagonists in Transformers 7 alongside the Autobots, while the Terrocons will be the antagonists. The Maximals are led by Optimus Primal, who comes in to warn Optimus Prime about the incoming threat of Unicron and his followers, the Terrocons.

Transformers 7 is inspired by the animated Transformers: Beast Wars series, but director Steven Caple Jr. and co. have changed the narrative a bit. To understand the Maximals further, we need to look into the backstory of Beast Wars.

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The history of Transformers 7’s Maximals

Optimus Primal in Transformers 7 (Image via Paramount)

The original Beast Wars series began 300 years in the future, beyond Optimus Prime's era. The protagonists in their story are the Maximals, the descendants of the Autobots. Their enemies are the Predacons, the descendants of Decepticons. Like the Decepticons, the Predacons are also led by Megatron, but this one is a Purple T-Rex instead of the Megatron we know of.

Meanwhile, the Maximals follow the Gorilla Transformer Optimus Primal, the commanding officer of a Maximal exploration ship called Axalon. When he received an alert about a fugitive Predacon ship called the Darksyde, he and his Maximal crew members entered a trans-swap portal to chase it.

Both the fugitive Predacons and the Maximals ended up on a primitive planet that was full of animals. They scanned the area and turned it into the wildlife present on the planet. The Maximals transformed into regular four-legged animals and birds, while the Predacons transformed into reptiles and arachnids.

Maximals in Transformers: Beast Wars (Image via Paramount)

But as it turned out, the planet that the Maximals and the Predacons had landed upon was none other than Earth of the past. So, from 300 years in the future, they jumped hundreds of years in the past and landed on ancient Earth by going through the trans-swap portal.

This might have also happened in the current live-action Transformers universe because Optimus Primal revealed that he and the other Maximals have been hiding on Earth for centuries. They only emerged in 1994 to warn Optimus Prime about the planet-eating villain, Unicron.

But instead of the Predacons, Transformers 7 would feature the villainous group of Terrocons, who are led by Scourge (Peter Dinklage). They are a subgroup of Decepticons in the source material, but in Rise of the Beasts, they come as the disciples of Unicron. Their job is to prepare Earth for Unicron’s consumption, so the Autobots will team up with the Maximals to stop them.

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All Maximals in Rise of the Beasts

Maximals in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

The trailers have shown four of the Maximals, which include Airazor (the Maximal who turns into a peregrine falcon), Cheetor (a Maximal who transforms into a Cheetah), Rhinox (a rhinoceros Maximal who is the second in command/brains of the group), and the leader Optimus Primal. This amazing-looking Gorilla transformer is voiced by the original Hellboy actor, Ron Perlman.

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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts hits theaters on June 9.