How To Watch the Transformers Franchise Easy Watch Order Guide

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

1. Transformers: Generation 1 | 1984 = 1993
2. The GoBots Universe | 1984 – 1986
3. Challenge of the GoBots | 1984 – 1985
4. The Transformers | 1984 – 1987
5. GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords | 1986
6. Transformers: Scramble City | 1986
7. Transformers: The Movie | 1986
8. Transformers: The Headmasters | 1987
9. Transformers: Super-God Masterforce | 1988
10. Transformers: Victory | 1989
11. Transformers: Zone | 1990
12. Transformers: Generation 2 | 1993 – 1995
13. Transformers: The Rebirth | 1996
14. The Beast Era | 1996- 2000
15. Beast Wars: Transformers | 1996 – 1999
16. Beast Wars II: Super-Life Transformers | 1998
17. Beast Wars II: Lio Convoy In Imminent Danger! | 1998
18. Super Life-Form Transformers: Beast Wars Neo | 1999
19. Beast Machines: Transformers | 1999 – 2000
20. Transformers: Robots in Disguise | 2001
21. The Unicron Trilogy | 2002 – 2005
22. Transformers: Armada | 2002 – 2003
23. Transformers: Energon | 2004
24. Transformers: Robotmasters | 2004 – 2005
25. Transformers: Cybertron | 2005
26. Transformers: Animated | 2007 – 2009
27. The Aligned Continuity | 2010 – Present
28. Transformers: Prime | 2010 – 2013
29. The Kre-O Transformers Shorts | 2011 – 2015
30. Transformers: Rescue Bots | 2012 – 2016
31. Transformers Go! | 2013
32. Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising | 2013
33. Transformers: Robots in Disguise | 2015 – 2017
34. The Prime Wars Trilogy | 2016 – 2018
35. Transformers: Combiner Wars | 2016
36. Transformers: Titan Return | 2017
37. Transformers: Power of the Primes | 2018
38. Transformers: Cyberverse | 2018 – 2020
39. Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy | 2019 – Present
40. The War for Cybertron Trilogy | 2020
41. Chapter 1: Siege | 2020
42. Chapter 2: Earthrise | 2021
43. Chapter 3: Kingdom | 2021
44. Transformers: BotBots | TBA
45. 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.

Transformers: The Last Knight – Trailer (2017) Official – Paramount Pictures

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.