When Bumblebee director Travis Knight approached the Transformers spinoff, he looked to his childhood with the popular toys the films are based on. Transformers were first introduced in the '80s and had a G1 design that has morphed quite a bit through the years.
Travis Knight originally wanted to include G1 Megatron in a rare scene in the franchise that shows the fall of Cybertron, and it sounds like it was going to be awesome. Here's what he said in an interview with io9:
I had this whole thing boarded where we're where we see [Decepticon leader] Megatron and he comes in like Sauron, just blowing shit up and laying waste to everything.
...then he realized that to keep the continuity of the Transformers franchise, there's no way Megatron could be on Cybertron in the '80s. In the first film, Captain Witwicky finds Megatron in the Arctic Circle back in 1897. The Decepticon leader is then transferred to Sector 7 by the '30s, where he continues to chill until the events of 2007's Transformers.
Sometimes a vision just doesn't match what can be done, even though an appearance of G1 Megatron on Cybertron would have been quite the site for any fan to geek out over. When Bumblebee director Travis Knight approached the Transformers spinoff, he looked to his childhood with the popular toys the films are based on.
Although Travis Knight's Megatron idea would have been fun to see on screen, perhaps the absence of the Decepticon can lead the way for the film to differentiate itself from the Transformers franchise. Megatron was featured in a majority of the films, including in 2017's Transformers: The Last Knight.
Transformers were first introduced in the '80s and had a G1 design that changed endless times throughout the years. Travis Knight said when he first pitched using an earlier aesthetic of Transformers there was some pushback from Paramount, the producers, and Hasbro. But they ultimately ended up coming around to the idea.
Bumblebee offers quite a bit of nostalgia for the era it is set in too. One of the most iconic films of its decade, E.T. had a huge influence on the development of the story, as pitched by Steven Spielberg himself who is also an executive producer on the film.
Travis Knight's classic approach to his Transformers film seems to have paid off as the film has received positive praise from critics prior to its release. The film currently has a staggering 95% Tomatometer score, hovering over the praise of releases including Aquaman and Mary Poppins Returns. Bumblebee stars Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Dylan O'Brien, Justin Theroux and Angela Bassett and comes to theaters December 21.
