Transformers: Cyberverse Pre-discussion Thread

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

I'd like to assume there are some Transformers G1 fans here. Anyway, the next animated series following the current Robots in Disguise cartoon will release next year under the title Cyberverse. No solid information about it has been given, but placeholder images depicting G1 characters are used on Hasbro's official release schedule:

http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/08/03/hasbro-reveals-new-animated-series-transformers-cyberverse-346255

So, rumors and wild speculation are hoping for the long-awaited (by some) re-imagining/revival/reboot/re-envisioning/re-make/re-whatever of the original Generation One series!

I was like, a little kid during G1 but I remember it extremely fondly. I was then super excited as a slightly less little kid when G2 started, only to experience for the first time HUGE FANDOM DISAPPOINTMENT. I can't watch G1 now because it hasn't exactly aged gracefully, but I'll throw in the DVDs once in a blue moon for a laugh. Was a BIG fan of Beast Wars, largely disappointed with Beast Machines. Huge fan of Prime, not impressed by RiD. I can't watch any of the anime versions; the little bits I've seen were too silly for me.

Anyway, the Transformers fandom seem to be reacting in the same way as news of the new Doctor in Doctor Who or some of the reaction to Discovery. I am not actively engaged in Transformers fandom so it's kind of funny to see this sort of polarization from an outside perspective, but I am definitely excited if Cyberverse is indeed going to be a G1 redux.

 

[Starscream2112]

Would be cool if they told some stories about the Headmasters and Pretenders. They got the shaft in the US. I always wondered why if the G1 show was ending here that they never translated the Japanese shows with the original voice actors and Syndicated it as part of G1

 

[kitik]

A bit off topic, but I was a huge fan of the old RID series, from 17 (or however many) years ago. Sky-Byte made the whole show for me!

The current RID series is fun enough. I'm sure I'll watch Cyberverse too.

Probably best not to get your hopes too high about it having Headmasters, Pretenders, etc. Older/more mature isn't always better, and Transformers Animated stands out as one of the best TF shows.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

I've watched maybe half of the first season of the current RiD series. It's fun, but Transformers Prime, while lack-luster for a large chunk, was the kind of atmosphere I really wanted out of a modern series. I don't think we'll be getting anything like that with Cyberverse though. I'd be happy if it was in-between Prime and RiD in 'darkness' and 'maturity'.

 

[Captain Craig]

I'm curious as to how and what aspects in animation they will explore and expand upon concerning the millions of years of history that Cybertronians have. Various other media, mostly comics, have explored this at times. As another mentioned this is a good chance to add narrative to what we know of the toys concerning Power/Target/Headmasters as well as Pretenders and even Action Masters.

What about a Cybertron that still had it's organics in place? What about the possibility that at it's core the planet could, in places, be terraformed back? As a longtime G1 fan who watched the show in the 80's as a 7-10yr old I'm holding an open mind. For 10yrs I was much more active in TF fandom, attending 10 consecutive BotCons. I now only hit the TF forums on rare occasions.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

Well, supposedly this new series is suppose to be a followup to RiD continuity-wise, which was a direct sequel to Prime. I don't know if they mean 'follow-up' as in it is just the next series after RiD, or if it is a spinoff from the same continuity. The modern Transformers continuity is all loosely connected with accepted, built-in contradictions (The games, novels, and TV series are all suppose to happen in one timeline, but interpretations of that timeline sometimes contradict each other). In it, the war on Cybertron did in fact happen thousands if not millions of years ago, but has since been regenerated after the events of Prime and is once again alive and well in RiD.

 

[Captain Craig]

.... In it, the war on Cybertron did in fact happen thousands if not millions of years ago, but has since been regenerated after the events of Prime and is once again alive and well in RiD.

It's been over a decade since I watched the finale of Beast Machines but I recall that series ending with Cybertron regaining some of its organic elements to it's surface. Only to be dismissed during the Armada/Energon/Cybertron trilogy and subsequent series. Am I misremembering?

 

[Enterprise1701]

It's been over a decade since I watched the finale of Beast Machines but I recall that series ending with Cybertron regaining some of its organic elements to it's surface. Only to be dismissed during the Armada/Energon/Cybertron trilogy and subsequent series. Am I misremembering?

You're confusing different continuities. Beast Wars + Beast Machines is one. Armada + Energon + Cybertron is another. Prime + Rescue Bots + 2015 Robots in Disguise is the current televised continuity.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

^ Correct

Beast Wars and Beast Machines are technically sequels to the G1 continuity. It does not, however, take into account any of the anime continuations of the G1 timeline, so it is strictly American in its story. At the end of Beast Machines, Cybertron is reformatted into a technorganic planet which I was really meh about. I haven't watched Armada or any of the other anime versions so I'm not sure what they're derived from, but the different Transformers timelines are pretty convoluted when you take into account the two different countries of origin for the stories.

The current TV continuity that includes Prime and it's sequel and sister series mentioned in the above post takes a lot of elements from all Transformers timelines and puts them together into a universe with the 'best' parts. Planets, characters, origin stories, artifacts, locations, from all the disparaging continuities are put together in one. The story starts in War for Cybertron game which leads into the Fall of Cybertron. Three novels Transformers: Exodus, Exiles, and Retribution are all also part of this continuity and happen contemporaneously (I've read the books but not played the games, so I'm not sure exactly how they fit time-wise).

The Prime cartoon references events, locations, characters, and artifacts from all these books and games, but across each medium there are little inconsistencies from title to title. It's a bit like how we would accept the events of Imzadi as happening in the current treklit timeline even though there might be details that do not fit anymore (or rather, a story similar to Imzadi happened, but perhaps not exactly the way it was presented in the original novel).

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

It's been over a decade since I watched the finale of Beast Machines but I recall that series ending with Cybertron regaining some of its organic elements to it's surface. Only to be dismissed during the Armada/Energon/Cybertron trilogy and subsequent series. Am I misremembering?

I got carried away with my last post..sorry ^^;, I actually meant to say (after clarification of the timlines by @Enterprise1701):

In the Prime Continuity after the events of Transformers Prime, the dead Cybertron is regenerated and a regular (normal and not technorganic) Cybertronian civilization is thriving once again.

 

[Relayer1]

As an aside, any U.K. fans going to the TF Nation convention this weekend ?

 

[Relayer1]

As an aside, any U.K. fans going to the TF Nation convention this weekend ?

I'll take that as a 'no' then !

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

I would assume that many UK fans are going to the TF Nation convention this weekend...but I guess not from here