Optimus Prime's First Transformers Team Revealed: Full Lineup & History Explained

Summary Transformers One introduces Optimus Prime as Orion Pax before he becomes the iconic hero.

The original Autobots team in the film includes Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, and Elita-One.

Elita-One's role as Optimus Prime's love interest and warrior ally promises to be a major asset in battle.

The trailer for Transformers One shows off Optimus Prime's first team of Autobots. Directed by Josh Cooley, the upcoming animated film dives back into the early days of the iconic Transformers hero, before he became known as Optimus Prime. Taking place on Cyberton during Optimus' life as Orion Pax, Transformers One surrounds the character with a handful of familiar faces from the lore, but based on where it fits into the Transformers timeline, it's not surprising that some major fixtures of the franchise are missing.

Across the many live-action Transformers movies, cartoons, and comics, Optimus Prime has fought alongside a slew of powerful Autobots. A long list of heroic Transformers characters, including Bumblebee, Jazz, Ironhide, Ratchet, and more, have counted themselves as members of Optimus Prime's Autobots roster at one point or another. For Transformers One, a movie that appears to be set in its own canon, the franchise is unveiling the earliest incarnation of the Autobots lineup. Looking at what's been revealed so far, the original team in the continuity of Transformers One was comprised of four characters.

Optimus Prime Led The Original Team

Optimus Prime has a long history of leading the Autobots

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The lineup chosen for the film speaks to the amount of evolution the team has gone through in its long history of fighting galactic threats, but one thing that hasn't changed, apparently, is Optimus Prime's role. If the trailer is any indication, Optimus is - and always was - the Autobots' leader. He can be seen taking command in the footage. But as noted above, he won't be called Optimus Prime in the movie, or at least, not at first. Rather, he'll be Orion Pax, the name he went by before taking on the mantle of "Optimus Prime."

In at least some aspects, Transformers One is poised to provide a take on Optimus Prime's origin story that's consistent with several other versions, which see Optimus start out as a powerless, seemingly average resident of Cybertron. In keeping with that, the Transformer One trailer describes Optimus as a worker bot who can't transform. That'll change, of course, when he and his allies are gifted their trademark abilities by a character that can be identified as Alpha Trion.

Megatron Was Once On Optimus Prime's Side

Optimus Prime's biggest villain was once a capable ally

Arguably the most surprising member of Optimus Prime's Transformers One team is D-16, a character better known as Megatron. Optimus and Megatron are fated to become archenemies, but before that happens, it looks like the two will share adventures in Transformers One's world. The trailer creates the impression that as Orion Pax and D-16 respectively, Optimus and Megatron will begin the story as friends and fellow worker bots. But as the story develops, the duo will grow into a group of four.

Considering Megatron's reputation as one of Transformers' greatest villains and a character responsible for some of Optimus Prime's toughest battles, it's fair to say that he'll bring a great deal of power to the roster. Two of the strongest characters in the franchise together on the same side obviously makes for a deadly combination. But as the lore makes clear, no matter how competent the team will be with Megatron around, it's doomed to fall apart sooner or later. Transformers history dictates that Megatron will eventually turn evil. That means his tenure will likely end in one of three ways: he quits the group to follow his own path, Optimus exiles him, or Megatron becomes a traitor to the Autobots.

Bumblebee Joined Optimus Prime & Megatron's Team

A mainstay of the Autobots team

Similar to how the live-action movies show a preference for Bumblebee when picking their principal characters, Transformers One confirms that Bumblebee was with Optimus Prime when his journey first kicked off all those years ago on Cybertron. But whereas movie audiences may know Bumblebee as a Transformer with a broken voice box, the 2024 film depicts a completely different side of him. This Bumblebee can talk just fine, and in fact, speaks quite a lot. In a position to serve as the team's comedy relief character, Bumblebee has a goofy, energetic persona that should inject some levity into a team dynamic that relies heavily on rather serious characters.

Although he may not have the raw power of Optimus or Megatron, Keegan Michael-Key's Bumblebee is poised to be a formidable addition to the roster. Making him unique to the other team members is his wrist blades. Bumblebee traditionally attacks with knife-like blades that protrude from his wrists. Michael Bay's Transformers movies avoided them, but the animated movie is heading in a different direction. Reimagining them as laser weapons, Transformers One looks to be making them a fundamental part of his arsenal, and perhaps the source of some humor as well, as evidenced by the scene where Bumblebee is accused of needlessly destroying a door.

Elita-One Is Often Portrayed As One Of Optimus Prime's First Allies

Optimus Prime's long-time love interest and reliable ally

Voiced by Scarlett Johansson, Elita-One completes the lineup of Optimus Prime's team in Transformers One. The female Autobot warrior may not be as high-profile as Optimus Prime, Megatron, or Bumblebee, but the character has a rich and storied history in the franchise nonetheless. However, it's limited only to material outside the live-action films. While Elita-One is technically credited with an appearance in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the female Autobot was only assigned that name by a tie-in comic.

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Transformers One elevates Elita-One to a role reminiscent of the presence she has in the comics and cartoons. In the original Transformers cartoon, it was established that in the early period of the timeline, Elita-One was involved in a romance with Orion Pax on Cybertron. When it came time for him to defend his planet, Elita-One was often at his side, contributing as much as she could to the defense of their home planet. In addition to the parts she played in the show's exploration of the events that took place in the past, Elita-One also appeared in the present-day story, helping the Autobots battle Deceptions on Earth.

Like the other three members of the group featured in Transformers One, Elita-One promises to be a major asset to them in battle. The trailer shows Elita-One morphing into a motorcycle, which makes her transformation different from her teammates. Based on its used in combat, using the form with allow a great degree of mobility, meaning she can use it to nimbly avoid attacks and maneuver around her opponents.