Bumblebee is bringing some new players to the robots in disguise franchise in the guise of Decepticons. The prequel film, set 20 years before Michael Bay’s 2007 Transformers, will see the massive, ever-expanding Transformers franchise scaled down to tell a more intimate story focusing on the beloved Autobot scout and his human friend Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld).

The Transformers movie franchise is at something of a crossroads. With longtime director Michael Bay stepping aside, it was assumed by many that the series would rest for a few years before a full-on reboot. Instead, a prequel from Kubo and the Two Strings director Travis Knight is on the way. Even though plot details have mostly been kept under wraps, with the Bumblebee trailers revealing that Bumblebee isn’t the only Transformer on Earth, there’s still quite a lot to determine from the other characters involved, such as the Decepticons.

While they’ve traditionally transformed into military and war vehicles, some Decepticons, such as Dropkick and Shatter, are said to be covert trackers that transform into era-specific muscle cars - the AMC Javelin and Plymouth Satellite, respectively, with regards to Dropkick and Shatter. But with a massive franchise to mine, those aren’t the only Decepticons slated to appear in Bumblebee.

  • This Page: Dropkick, Shatter, and Blitzwing Explained Page 2: The Other Decepticons In Bumblebee

Dropkick

Dropkick is a name that has popped up a few times in Transformers mythology, though never in a major role. In Generation 1, the Dropkick drones were some of Megatron’s earliest warriors in the war with the Autobots. As seen in the classic episode “War Dawn,” Megatron and the Dropkick drones attack a dockside warehouse, critically damaging several Cybertronians, including a peaceful young dockworker named Orion Pax, who would be rebuilt and rechristened as Optimus Prime by the mysterious Alpha Trion.

While Dropkick has never appeared in the Bay films, he has appeared in some of the ancillary material associated with them, most prominently the IDW comics. He’s portrayed as one of Megatron’s most loyal lieutenants, who eventually finds his stature in the Decepticon ranks severely diminished by the Machiavellian machinations of Starscream. Given the Bay’s Transformers movies’ infamous disinterest in their own continuity, there’s little guarantee this is an interpretation that will be considered canon in Bumblebee.

Dropkick will be voiced by The Leftovers star - and Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s oblivious master codebreaker - Justin Theroux. Theroux has some experience voicing toy based villains, having lent his pipes to Lord Garmadon in last year’s Lego Ninjago Movie.

Shatter

Shatter is a little more of a mystery. There’s no previous Decepticon in Transformers canon with that name, nor has there ever been a Shatter toy - which is kind of amazing considering how many Transformers toys there’ve been over the years. The main thing we know about Shatter is that she’s a female Decepticon, and would presumably be the first major female Transformer in the live action films (Arcee was around in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but like much of that film she left no impact).

While the live action movies haven’t really explored female Transformers in any meaningful way, there’s a long history of them in the franchise’s other iterations. The most well known and beloved is likely Blackarachnia, the scheming Predacon spider from the much-lauded Beast Wars series. Her star-crossed love affair with Maximal goofball Silverbolt - along with Megatron’s ultimate plan that would lead to her erasure from existence - ultimately lead to her defection to the good guys. Windblade has also become a staple of the franchise; the fan-created character has become a central figure in virtually all Transformers comics and cartoons since her creation in 2013, including the upcoming Cyberverse series.

While we don’t know much about Shatter yet, we do know the voice behind her, which will be the sublime Angela Bassett. The Oscar-winning actress has been no stranger to genre fare in recent years, portraying both Amanda Waller in Green Lantern and Ramonda in Black Panther. Her commanding voice seems like a natural fit for an intimidating Decepticon.

Blitzwing

Blitzwing is one of Bumblebee’s more surprising Decepticons. Bumblebee movie producers were playing coy about the red Decepticon seen in Bumblebee’s first trailer, which led many to believe that it was Starscream. However, it was revealed during the movie’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 that the red Decepticon is Blitzwing, not Starscream. While that may be disappointing for fans who were hoping to see Starscream redeemed in the Transformers movies. This made sense considering that Charlie Adler, who voiced Starscream in Bay’s Transformers movies, had already said that he wasn’t returning for the prequel.

But now there’s another Decepticon to look forward to in Blitzwing, a Triple Changer Transformer who’s had an out for Bumblebee since the beginning, and a Decepticon who typically transforms into either a tank or a fighter jet. According to Bumblebee’s prequel comics, Bumblebee has been hunting Blitzwing for several years, and it seems that they will finally come into contact once again in the prequel movie. Following an announcement by voice actor David Sobloz - that he would be voicing a character in the Bumblebee movie - the character Blitzwing appeared in one of the more recent Bumblebee trailers, thus revealing the character that he’s voicing.

Page 2 of 2: The Other Decepticons In Bumblebee

Soundwave & Ravage

After appearing in Bay’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Soundwave is returning for the Bumblebee prequel, though it’s unclear what Soundwave’s exact role will be in the movie since he’s been one of Megatron’s most loyal allies and Megatron isn’t supposed to appear in this film. However, one of the Bumblebee teasers showed Soundwave fighting Optimus Prime on Cybertron, so it’s possible his role is quite limited in the new movie.

What’s interesting is that Ravage is also returning for Bumblebee. In the Transformers franchise, Soundwave is able to store a number of Decepticon spies and infiltrators in his robot form, and unleash them at different times. One of those infiltrators happens to be Ravage, who made his Transformers movie series debut in Revenge of the Fallen. While Ravage is shot out from Soundwave in space in Revenge of the Fallen, he appears to take his G1 form in Bumblebee, even launching from Soundwave’s chest (which appears more like his iconic cassette player).

Shockwave

In the full-length Bumblebee trailer that released in September, it was confirmed that Shockwave would also be appearing in the prequel film. It will be interesting to see Shockwave back on-screen after seeing him lose a fight to Optimus Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon’s climactic battle in Chicago. However, it’s unclear who will be voicing Shockwave in the movie, if there will be anyone voicing him at all. Frank Welker had provided Shockwave’s voice in the previous films.

Shockwave is a rather unique Decepticon, with regards to his position as Megatron’s trusted scientist and his powerful laser cannon that he’s used to kill many Autobots before. Plus, there’s his intriguing design that includes a single robotic eye (which he retains as the movies progress). Moreover, following in-line with all the other Transformers in the Bumblebee movie, Shockwave looks to be sporting his G1 design in the trailer, even being colored purple over the original silver color that he had in the previous Transformers films (which he may get later on seeing as those movies take place decades in the future).

Considering that the IDW Publishing Transformers movie comics have indicated that Shockwave had crash-landed in Russia in the early 20th century and that the nation’s government used Shockwave’s technology to create nuclear power plants, it’ll be interesting to see how Shockwave’s existence plays into the Cold War in the Bumblebee movie, especially since there’s no record of what he was up to in between the time he landed on Earth and appeared in the previous movies.

Will There Be Other Decepticons In Bumblebee?

There’s no guarantee these are the only Decepticons who will show up in the Bumblebee movie. Rumors have circulated that voice actor Jess Harnell has recorded lines for the Decepticon police car Barricade seen in the first film; however, that piece of information still hasn’t been confirmed and Transformers fans ultimately may have to wait until the movie releases to find out for sure. And while it hasn’t been announced (or even rumored yet) that Megatron will appear in the Bumblebee movie - which makes sense since at this point in time he’d be stuck in stasis inside Hoover Dam, being studied by Sector Seven - it’s been confirmed that Peter Cullen will be reprising his role as Optimus Prime in the film. Furthermore, Optimus Prime’s G1 design has also been revealed.

Of course, there may always be more Autobots and Decepticons on the way that Paramount Pictures and the creative team behind Bumblebee are trying to keep a secret (for fans to enjoy in the moment). Right now, though, the future of the Transformers film franchise is riding on how audiences and critics respond to Bumblebee. It could end up being an X-Men: First Class style sneak reboot of the Transformers franchise, injecting new life into the story through a period piece retcon, or it could be a strange, vestigial artifact before a larger overhaul. If nothing else, it looks like Bumblebee will get to tangle with some surprisingly fresh Decepticons before the next phase.

More: Bumblebee Movie: Every Update You Need To Know

  • Bumblebee Release Date: 2018-12-21