Power of the Primes is the third and final installment of the '' Transformers: Prime Wars Trilogy'', a toyline and

transmedia Transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies. From a producti ...

series created by Hasbro as part of the ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

'' franchise. It consists of the toy line, as well as the animated web series of the same name. Development of the franchise began in November 2016 with the announcement of an animated web series by

Machinima Machinima, originally machinema () is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''ma ...

, based on the upcoming toyline. In January 2017, Hasbro held a fan-vote to decide which character would become the next Prime in the franchise. In February, it was decided that Optimus Primal would become the next Prime.

Development

''Power of the Primes'' was first announced on November 29, 2016. Hasbro announced that it would once again partner with

—after having previously worked with them on the animated web series adaptation of '' Transformers: Combiner Wars''—to produce the adaptations for '' Transformers: Titans Return'' and '' Transformers: Power of the Primes''. Eric Calderon,

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

of ''Combiner Wars'', was confirmed to have returned for both ''Titans Return'' and ''Power of the Primes''. In January 2017, Hasbro created a poll allowing fans to vote which Transformer will become the next Prime. The vote occurred in two stages. During the first, fans voted for the leaders of three different personality factions: honor, order, and chaos. Honor was represented by

Arcee Arcee is the name of several fictional characters in the ''Transformers'' franchise. Arcee has been depicted as female Autobots, usually pink or blue in color. Being the most famous of the Female Autobots, she has made more appearances and has h ...

, Ultra Magnus, and Hound; Order by

Megatron Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Transformers'' media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. Megatron is the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, ...

Star Saber is an animated series produced by Toei Animation. It is a Japanese-produced spin-off of the well-known original ''Transformers'' animated series, and the final complete animated series from the original " Generation 1" era. Development Follo ...

, and

Shockwave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

; and Chaos by Thunderwing, Optimus Primal, and an Unknown Evil ( Deathsaurus). The winners of the first round were Ultra Magnus, Star Saber and Optimus Primal, advancing into the second round alongside the Unknown Evil as a wildcard. The poll ended a month later on February 18, and Optimus Primal was chosen as the next Prime. At the 2017

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

on July 20, Hasbro revealed during their panel some of the figures of the toyline. The figures shown were those of Liege Maximo, Dreadwind, Blackwing,

Starscream Starscream is a fictional character in the ''Transformers'' media franchise. He is one of the most frequently occurring characters in the franchise, appearing in almost all of its different continuities. Starscream in generally depicted as the s ...

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and Rodimus Prime. During Hasbro's first

HasCon Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

fan convention in September, the new Combiner Volcanicus was revealed. The combiner is composed of the five Dinobots: Grimlock, Slug, Sludge, Snarl and Swoop.

Controversy

In November 2017, a fan noticed that a tiny print found on the vehicle mode of Jazz featured scribbles that, when translated from the Cybertronian alphabet, read out "MAGA", which is an abbreviation for "

Make America Great Again "Make America Great Again" or MAGA is an American political slogan popularized by Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants in ...

", the slogan of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. Hasbro soon released a statement that the issue had been investigated and that a vendor had placed the acronym without authorization. The company also clarified that they are addressing the issue with the vendor and that they "do not intend for

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

products to carry political messages, apologiz ngto anyone who was offended by this message".

Animated web series

''Transformers: Power of the Primes'' is an animated web series developed by F.J. DeSanto,

Adam Beechen Adam Beechen (born December 14, 1968) is an American comic book writer who wrote '' Countdown to Adventure'' and co-wrote ''Countdown'' for DC Comics. Career Animation Beechen has written scripts for various cartoons, such as ''Teen Titans'', '' ...

and Jamie Iracleanos, and produced by

Machinima, Inc. Machinima, Inc. was an American multiplatform online entertainment network owned by WarnerMedia. The company was founded in January 2000 by Hugh Hancock and was headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It originated as a hub for its namesake, m ...

and Hasbro Studios, with the animation provided by Tatsunoko Production. It is the final installment of the '' Transformers: Prime Wars Trilogy'' series, being the direct sequel to '' Transformers: Titans Return''. The series premiered on May 1, 2018 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on go90, and on

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...

internationally. In the aftermath of the Titans' conflict that concluded with Optimus Prime's death,

and the rest of the Transformers must stand together in order to stop Megatronus from wiping out their species forever. During their search for the Requiem Blaster, more mysteries about Cybertron's past will be uncovered, and a new Prime will be chosen.

Casting

On January 9, 2018, it was announced that

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards f ...

, who had previously voiced Megatronus in ''Transformers: Titans Return'', would resume his role for ''Transformers: Power of the Primes''. It was also confirmed that

Ron Perlman Ronald Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in the television series ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–199 ...

would voice Optimus Primal, after the character was voted by fans to become the next Prime, while Gregg Berger also reprised his role as Grimlock in addition to Volcanicus, the combined robot form of the five Dinobots. Other voice actors include

Jaime King Jaime King (born April 23, 1979) is an American actress and model. In her modeling career and early film roles, she used the names Jamie King and James King, which was a childhood nickname given to King by her parents, because her agency alread ...

Mikey Way Michael James Way (born September 10, 1980) is an American musician and actor. He is best known as the bassist of the rock band My Chemical Romance. He is also the multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist of rock duo Electric Century. Mikey c ...

, Peter Cullen, and Samoa Joe. Judd Nelson, Kari Wahlgren and

Wil Wheaton Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' ...

also reprised their roles.

Voice cast

The series features returning actors and newcomers as part of the cast. * Gregg Berger as Grimlock and Volcanicus * Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime *Rob Dyke as Devastator *Charlie Guzman as

Menasor ''The Transformers'' is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro's ''Transformers'' toy line. The first television series in the ''Transformer ...

as Megatronus / The Fallen * Samoa Joe as

Predaking ''The Transformers'' is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro's ''Transformers'' toy line. The first television series in the ''Transformer ...

as Solus Prime *Jason Marnocha as

* Judd Nelson as

Hot Rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...

/ Rodimus Cron / Rodimus Unicronus and Unicron * Matthew Patrick as Computron and Swoop *

as Optimus Primal / Optimal Optimus * Patrick Seitz as

Overlord An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or serje ...

Frank Todaro Frank Todaro (; born Francesco Todaro, ; July 15, 1889 – November 29, 1944) was an Italian-American mobster, who was the boss of New Orleans crime family during 1944. Early life Todaro was born in the area of San Cipirello, Province of Palerm ...

as Sludge and

Abby Trott Abby Trott is an American voice actress. She started out by acting in puppet shows in Japan, before moving to the United States and joining Bang Zoom! Entertainment, where she has worked on numerous anime, animation, and video game series. Some ...

Windblade Windblade is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers continuities in the ''Transformers'' robot superhero franchise. She is always depicted as a female Autobot that can turn into a VTOL jet. Transformers: Generations ...

* Kari Wahlgren as Victorion *

as Snarl *

as Perceptor

Episodes

Comic book

According to John Barber, editor of

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

, the ongoing ''

'' comics published by the company will not feature a crossover event based on Power of the Primes. IDW had previously published crossover events based on Combiner Wars and Titans Return.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, United States, Japan, Toys, Television, Cartoon, Science Fiction Transformers: Prime Wars Trilogy 2010s American adult animated television series 2018 web series debuts 2018 web series endings American adult animated action television series American adult animated web series American anime-influenced Western animated television series Transmedia storytelling