Autobots
Optimus Prime
Still the first name on the Autobot team sheet, Prime’s back with cartoon stalwart Peter Cullen providing that warm, strong voice that a generation of men everywhere wish belonged to their dad. As in the first movie, Prime transforms into a Peterbilt truck with sexy fire stickers.
Bumblebee
Best friend to Shia LaBeouf’s human hero Sam Witwicky, Bumblebee will transform into a modified version of the 5th Generation Chevrolet Camaro that he became halfway through the first movie. Mad fans may disagree, but anything’s better than the VW Beetle he was back in the day.[page-break]
Arcee
Ladybot Arcee was dropped from the first film at such short notice (apparently, explaining her gender was the sticking point) that she still appeared in the toy line-up. Now she’s back – a sassy-looking pink bot who transforms into a Buell Firebolt motorcycle.
The Twins
There’s still a bit of speculation going on with the twins. Leaked production documents suggest that early on in the film they combine into an ice cream van – worst Christmas present ever? – and more recent photos suggest they later become a matching pair of Chevvies – a Chevrolet Beat and a Chevrolet Trax. If the number plate’s anything to go by, the Beat twin could be called ‘Skids’.[page-break]
Ratchet
What we like about the mechanically calm Ratchet is that, even though he’s a medical bot who believes there’s a peaceful solution to every problem, he also has a giant rotary blade on one arm (could be for medical procedures, like) and a massive machine gun on the other (less likely). Transforms into a Hummer H2 rescue truck.
Ironhide
The grizzly veteran and weapons specialist returns. The likelihood is he’ll still transform into the same GMC Topkick pickup truck he did in the first film (there are cars to sell here, people) but it would be awesome if he changed into a tank like in the old cartoons. Just for a bit.[page-break]
Sideswipe
A new addition to the film cast, the Sideswipe in the old cartoon was a reckless but tough jockbot who transformed into a Lamborghini. This time he’s a silver Chevrolet Corvette Centennial Concept, and in robot form he has massive blades on both arms. Still likes the fighting, then.
Jolt
The name Jolt’s been used a few times in the vast Transformers cannon (most recently as a Decepticon toy tied into the last film) but this last-minute addition is a totally new character who takes the form of Chevrolet’s hybrid car, the Volt.
If Jeremy Clarkson were writing this he’d say, ‘So presumably he’ll go half as fast as all the other Autobots and run out of power on the 70 minute mark,’ but we think it’s very forward thinking. [page-break]
Jetfire
A wounded Transformer who changes into an SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. The character’s had various incarnations since the old cartoon and, like the one in the new movie apparently does, they often switch sides from Decepticon to Autobot.
Rumour has it that at some point both sides will race to the futuristic Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center – the air and space museum – to reach Jetfire first. Intriguing.
Superion
It’s not completely clear if mega-Autobot Superion is actually in the film or just a toy, but given the presence of the Decepticon’s own combo-bot Devastator he’s probably in.
He's made up of the Aerialbots, who are: Silverbolt the leader, teeny Airazor, daydreamer Fireflight, Skydive the tactician and Air Raid the risky bomber. Thanks, toy packaging![page-break]
Decepticons
The Fallen
The big angry face on all the teaser posters. Affiliation not strictly known, but we’re guessing he’s not holding hands with humanity. In other Transformers stories The Fallen was one of the original 13 members of the robot race, who turned on his creators and fell in with massive baddie Unicron.
Whether that holds up for the movie is anyone’s guess, but Michael Bay has described him as ‘apocalyptic,’ which’ll do nicely.
Megatron
Michael Bay is pretty insistent that Megatron – who was killed at the end of the first movie – wont’ be appearing in the sequel. But strongly suggesting otherwise are various toy and marketing images featuring the Hugo Weaving-voiced villain redesigned as an ornate, deadly-looking Cybertronian tank.
Would they bother with all that work if he wasn’t in the movie? Seems unlikely.[page-break]
Starscream
There’ll be a bigger part to play for everybody’s favourite Machiavellian number two, Starscream.
No firm details yet but he’ll most likely transform into a tarted up version of the F-22 Raptor from the first film, and spend the film wrestling unsuccessfully with the top job in Megatron’s (probably temporary) absence.
Soundwave
A major player in the cartoons, Bay and his team tried to fit Soundwave into the first film twice (the characters became Blackout and Frenzy) before giving up.
Now the Decepticons’ communications expert is back, and transforms into a Cybertronian satellite. The team toyed with giving him a second, Earth-bound form to change into – a bulky Chevrolet Silverado – but changed their minds because it looked rubbish.[page-break]
Ravage
Soundwave’s little helper. Back in the day Soundwave had a set of cassette tape minions, but as he’s no longer a tape deck it makes more sense for Ravage to be a tiger-like beast machine.
Barricade
The first film saw Barricade disappear toward the climax with no explanation, something which writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman have described as a ‘loose thread’ for the sequel. But will he still be a Saleen S281 police car? Maybe not…[page-break]
The Audi R8
An as-yet unidentified Transformer will change into an Audi R8. Here’s the thing – early release versions of the toy are a very similar size to the Barricade figures from the first film, and have exactly the same rotating sawblade weapon.
Is the Audi an upgraded version of Barricade, or a new bot altogether?
Frenzy
Alright, maybe not the same Frenzy who we last saw slicing his own face in two during the climax of the first film, but according to on-set photos certainly a similarly lightweight sidekick bot of some kind.
Maybe a new version of Frenzy to go along with a potentially new version of Barricade.[page-break]
Alice
Played by the not at all mechanical Isabel Lucas, the likelihood is that Alice is a Pretender – a Decepticon capable of taking human form (Roberto Orci has confirmed Pretenders will appear in the film).
Sneaked video footage from the Philadelphia set of Sam’s college shows our hero and friends running away from an imperiously marching blond, as you can see for yourself.
Devastator
A big mean amalgam of several smaller Decepticons called the Constructicons. Devastator featured in the original cartoon, although according to Roberto Orci none of the old characters will be brought back.
So far the only potential sighting of a new Constructicon has been in the form of a new, slightly rubbish-looking toy called Dirt Boss. We’re sure the rest will be, you know, better.
