The Transformers is one of the most popular franchises amongst millennials who’ve grown up watching the Transformers cartoon/anime series and have later seen live-action films. “Autobots! Let’s roll out!” in Optimus Prime’s voice makes me nostalgic even today, so many years later.
Only a few people know that the Transformers franchise has origins in comics created by Marvel. The first animated series was released in the 1980s, and the first live-action film came out in 2007. Since then, the series has become a significant part of pop culture.
While the first three films offered entertaining commercial action with incredible CGI and VFX, the ones that came after became repetitive. They lacked the freshness or originality the initial trilogy brought to the silver screen. While most of you have enjoyed these films, the best stories and characters are, in fact, present in the animated series.
If you have watched the films or the animated series but want to experience the universe all over again, you can use this watch order. On the flip side, if you have not watched the series or watched just a couple of films here and there, consider this as your guide to the complete universe.
The Transformers franchise includes 6 live-action films and about 45 animated TV series. The watch order guide covers the release and chronological watch order for all of them and gives you an overview of the complete timeline.
1. Transformers Live-Action Films Release Order
- Transformers (2007)
- Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)
- Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011)
- Transformers: Age Of Extinction (2014)
- Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
- Bumblebee (2018)
In this release order, the first five films were directed by Michael Bay, while the Bumblebee spin-off was directed by Travis Knight. The latter is set 20 years before the events of the first Transformer film and can be watched as a standalone piece of content.
2. Transformers Live-Action Films Chronological Watch Order
- Bumblebee (2018)
- Transformers (2007)
- Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)
- Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011)
- Transformers: Age Of Extinction (2014)
- Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
As you see, there’s not much difference between the watch order and the release order. However, there are some continuity issues between the Bumblee prequel and the rest of the series.
The origins explained in the first Transformers film and the Bumblebee film has minor inconsistencies. This is one of the primary reasons why the origin story remains ambiguous.
It is essential to keep an eye out for these inconsistencies if you want to immerse yourself in this universe. After Bumblebee, there are a few loose ends which I hope will be tied up in the upcoming Transformers film, set to release in 2022.
Despite these issues, the franchise is an entertaining watch for anybody looking for well-choreographed robot battles.
3. Transformers Animated Series Release Order and Watch Order
- Transformers: Generation 1 | 1984 = 1993
- The GoBots Universe | 1984 – 1986
- Challenge of the GoBots | 1984 – 1985
- The Transformers | 1984 – 1987
- GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords | 1986
- Transformers: Scramble City | 1986
- Transformers: The Movie | 1986
- Transformers: The Headmasters | 1987
- Transformers: Super-God Masterforce | 1988
- Transformers: Victory | 1989
- Transformers: Zone | 1990
- Transformers: Generation 2 | 1993 – 1995
- Transformers: The Rebirth | 1996
- The Beast Era | 1996- 2000
- Beast Wars: Transformers | 1996 – 1999
- Beast Wars II: Super-Life Transformers | 1998
- Beast Wars II: Lio Convoy In Imminent Danger! | 1998
- Super Life-Form Transformers: Beast Wars Neo | 1999
- Beast Machines: Transformers | 1999 – 2000
- Transformers: Robots in Disguise | 2001
- The Unicron Trilogy | 2002 – 2005
- Transformers: Armada | 2002 – 2003
- Transformers: Energon | 2004
- Transformers: Robotmasters | 2004 – 2005
- Transformers: Cybertron | 2005
- Transformers: Animated | 2007 – 2009
- The Aligned Continuity | 2010 – Present
- Transformers: Prime | 2010 – 2013
- The Kre-O Transformers Shorts | 2011 – 2015
- Transformers: Rescue Bots | 2012 – 2016
- Transformers Go! | 2013
- Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising | 2013
- Transformers: Robots in Disguise | 2015 – 2017
- The Prime Wars Trilogy | 2016 – 2018
- Transformers: Combiner Wars | 2016
- Transformers: Titan Return | 2017
- Transformers: Power of the Primes | 2018
- Transformers: Cyberverse | 2018 – 2020
- Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy | 2019 – Present
- The War for Cybertron Trilogy | 2020
- Chapter 1: Siege | 2020
- Chapter 2: Earthrise | 2021
- Chapter 3: Kingdom | 2021
- Transformers: BotBots | TBA
- Nickelodeon’s Transformers Comedy Series | TBA
Almost all the series, films, and shorts in the above list follow the same chronology as the release order, with very few storylines overlapping. However, that wouldn’t affect your viewing experience. One fascinating aspect of this list is that it includes anime renditions of a few Transformers comics, which is a nice twist to the animated versions you’ll see.
4. Run-Time And Binge Duration
The live-action series is about 15 hours long, and the animated series can go on for countless hours. It is recommended that you watch the animated series and the live-action series separately since the two are not connected.
While the films can be binged over a weekend, the animated series can be watched at a slower pace since many character arcs and storylines are involved. If you try to watch these in one go, chances are you might be overwhelmed.
5. Where To Watch
The complete Transformers movie series is available on Amazon Prime Video. If you don’t have Prime Video, then you can also find the series on Google Play that you can buy for $56.99. You can also rent individual films for $3.99.
While the 1980s Transformers animated series are hard to find online, you can still watch some of them on Prime Video, JustWatch, and other such platforms.
6. The Best Order To Watch Transformers
Since the timeline is pretty straightforward, I think it’s best to watch the films in the release order. This way you can get the complete feel of the OG films before moving on to the prequel, which is a direct dive into this universe.
You can then catch the complete animated series from various sites and sources, which might as well be pirated. So as always, don’t wait for anything, and binge ‘em all in one go. Happy Bingeing!
7. About Transformers Franchise
Transformers is a series of American science fiction action films based on the Transformers franchise which began in the 1980s as an animated series that go on till today.
Michael Bay has directed the first five films: Transformers (2007), Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Dark of the Moon (2011), Age of Extinction (2014), and The Last Knight (2017). A spin-off film, Bumblebee, directed by Travis Knight and produced by Bay, was released on December 21, 2018.
The Transformers series has received negative to mixed reception, except for Bumblebee which received positive reviews. It is the 13th-highest-grossing film series, with a total of $4.8 billion; two films in the series have grossed over $1 billion each.
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