The following contains spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, in theaters now.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts maximizes the movie franchisability by bringing in an element from the property’s most bestial incarnation. The Maximals from Beast Wars: Transformers fight alongside their Autobot ancestors, even if their own origins are somewhat muddy. In fact, the world they hail from is never named, though it may be tied to a forgotten Transformers anime.
Beast Wars II: Super Life-Form Transformers was one of several anime entries in the franchise, and part of a Japanese-exclusive duology during the Beast Era. It contained its own cast of Maximals and Predacons, both of whom fought for an alien energy source on a mysterious planet. Said planet may actually be the one seen in Rise of the Beasts, giving the Maximals a notable distinction in the movie.
Rise of the Beasts’ Biggest Mystery Involves the Maximal Homeworld
Early in the film, future commander Optimus Primal and the other Maximals are seen fighting Scourge and the Terrorcons. The latter search for the Transwarp Key, all the while ravaging the homeworld of the Maximals. After the heroic faction’s leader, Apelinq, is killed by Scourge, the movie transitions to the present day. When the Maximals later meet the Autobots, they never state that their previously-seen homeworld is Cybertron (the world which Optimus Prime and the other Autobots wish to return to). Said world is never really mentioned again, which makes things confusing, given that the Maximals are apparently from the future. After all, part of the movie’s plot involves them having been on Earth in the ancient past, with the “present day” storyline being set in 1994.
By the end of Rise of the Beasts, the Maximals seem to merely be part of the present day landscape, with concern of their home being relegated to the past. Thus, their entire premise in the film can be seen as something of a plot hole. Given that the Transwarp Key is tied to time and space — and the fact that the Maximals were around on prehistoric Earth — there’s a chance that “their world” was merely a futuristic version of Earth. If so, that would match up exactly with one of Japan’s Beast Wars anime shows.
Rise of the Beasts’ Maximal Homeworld Is Likely an Obscure Anime Reference
In Beast Wars II, two groups of Maximals and Predacons warred with each other over the mysterious Angolmois Energy, a fuel source found on the planet Gaia. Though it was only confirmed as being such in supplemental material, even the anime suggested that Gaia was in fact a future version of the planet Earth. With humanity long gone and much of its civilization crumbling under the return of nature, the ties to Earth’s past were minute. Due to the lack of other forms of intelligent life, the Maximals and Predacons would soon come to call this planet their home. Gaia would also be the setting in the sequel series Beast Wars Neo, which ironically featured the looming threat of the Chaos-Bringer Unicron (as does the new movie).
The Maximal planet in Rise of the Beasts has a similarly arboreal appearance and, given that the Maximals came to the future, it’s likely that this too was a future version of Earth. If that’s the case, it means that the Maximals are present in three of Earth’s time periods: past, present and future. This is an interesting inversion of the classic Beast Wars setup, wherein the Maximals and Predacons came from a futuristic Cybertron and ended up on prehistoric Earth. It also homages an obscure part of the Beast Era, further accomplished by the mere presence of Apelinq (an otherwise unknown Maximal). Ironically, the theatrical release of the Beast Wars II movie made it not only the second Transformers film, but also the first Beast Wars movie — long before Rise of the Beasts came out. Sadly, Maximals such as Lio Convoy/Leo Prime are nowhere to be seen in the movie, though the planet they waged war upon may in fact be in the film’s introduction.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now playing in theaters.