The Energon Pub

How would you do it? Stick with regurgitating the favourites of old? Starting from scratch via new oc's ala Bulkhead, Rattrap, Lockdown etc

Personally, being a fan of the more alien aspects of the Franchise. That is the part I would lean into most. Fill the cast with mold variants. Not as drones/cannon fodder. But as their own characters. Virtually everyone in Transformers has a redeco or retool by this point. I'd highlight that. Scenes of Cybertron filled with Datsun brothers walking around beside the Lambors and Magnus'. All the Optimus Prime variants (including Gilthor, Nemesis Prime, Scourge) coexisting amid the entire squadron of Seekers. Emphasising the mass production of mechanical lifeforms. When distinction comes down to colour palette. Originality isn't a concept they are familiar with. Nor would it lead to conflict.
This also gets rid of the more humanising traits that the Cybertronians have had forced upon them in recent years.

When you speak of a reboot, do you mean a new iteration of the franchise like UT and Animated, or a complete rewrite of the franchise from the ground up? Because I think Aligned and every previous superhero comic reboot (especially DC's) have shown how well the last one tends to work out...

Anyway, while I'm also a fan of the more alien explorations of Transformers design and culture (for example, how does a race that can modify or even replace their bodies define identity and mortality?), I wouldn't get rid of all the humanization. Both because I enjoy seeing the similarities between alien and human species despite the differences, and because even the most drastic xenofiction requires some humanization to be relatable (or do you think Watership Down would be half as fun if the rabbits thought like real rabbits and were incapable of abstract thought, let alone religion and mythology?).

One idea I'd like to see was a post-war series where the Decepticons won. As far as I'm aware, most of the series either have the war ongoing, starting or the Autobots have won and the Decepticons/Predacons are the underclass; having the Autobots already lost and their opressed descendants trying to regain their liberty is something we've never seen yet. Maybe have some of the big names like Bumblebee, Rodimus, Arcee and/or Ironhide as mentors found in the wilderness of Cybertron, and leading the younger generation (made of both obscure, recent and brand-new characters) to explore Cybertron and other sites of the war - including eventually Earth - for something that can turn the tide: either relics from the war, or Optimus himself.

Also, I'd definitely reduce their lifespan, possibly to thousands instead of millions of years. While Cybertronians' rididculous long lives have been a staple of the franchise since day 1, it's honestly difficult to write or take seriously worldbuilding when almost every member of their species has existed since the very dawn of their civilization. It kinda breaks the illusion of a long, well-developed civilization when the same big names - including the younger ones - have been there from nearly the beginning. Also, how do they develop legends and stories when there are so many people in the present who should remember what really happened?

There are also two more ideas I'd like to explore: the mythology of Cybertronians, and the underground societies/monsters like the Demons and Mutants. The first is something I've always loved due to my passion of cross-genre science fantasy, but most of the time it's stuck in the same Primus-Unicron mythos (and usually very poorly, in my opinion, but that's neither here nor there) and rarely explores other possible pantheons like the Covenant or Primacron. The latter is something I've always found would make a good third wildcard faction, but are rarely ever used.

MaximalNui wrote: (or do you think Watership Down would be half as fun if the rabbits thought like real rabbits and were incapable of abstract thought, let alone religion and mythology?).

By the current Live Action films, Disney does

MaximalNui wrote:Also, I'd definitely reduce their lifespan, possibly to thousands instead of millions of years. While Cybertronians' ridiculous long lives have been a staple of the franchise since day 1, it's honestly difficult to write or take seriously worldbuilding when almost every member of their species has existed since the very dawn of their civilization. It kinda breaks the illusion of a long, well-developed civilization when the same big names - including the younger ones - have been there from nearly the beginning. Also, how do they develop legends and stories when there are so many people in the present who should remember what really happened?

See this is a problem that was created due to modern media. G1 had clear generational gaps. Nothing was retroactive. The future characters, such as the Pretender Monsters or Headmasters. They were not present when the Ark and Nemesis crash landed. Never intended to be, either.

Marketing based writing of today turned this into a convoluted mess. By cherry-picking favourite characters and mashing them all together. Scorponok and Megatron, for example, should never meet. Optimus Prime shouldn't be interacting with the Autobot Clones.
The Maximals and Predacons are far future descendants and it's ok to leave them there.
You make their ages mean something by portraying it through advancing technology. Remembering they are robots.
Show the age of the Seekers, through Triggerhappy and Slugslinger. Having everyone in the same toybox is just messy.