A new trailer for Bumblebee has hit the web today and promises a heartfelt origin story for the fan-favorite Transformer. The spinoff prequel’s set before the events of the original movies and will examine the titular character’s time after he first landed on Earth, along with how he met his first human friend and what made him the heroic Autobot that we’ve all loved since way back in 2007.
As you can see above, this new footage features a younger Bumblebee learning about Earth with the film’s star, Hailee Steinfeld. That’s intercut with heartwarming shots of Bee figuring out how to talk via radio, a menacing John Cena (who’s playing the antagonist), explosions and a yet to be named Decepticon that totally looks like Starscream.
From what we can tell, the plot appears to be more character-driven than previous entries in the franchise and will hopefully be a delightful change of pace from the mythology heavy mainline installments. Which, if we’re being honest, have been pretty underwhelming lately.
Overall, there isn’t much fresh footage in this latest trailer, but it’s still a sizzling reminder of what’s to come from the new direction of the franchise. After the commercial failure of Transformers: The Last Knight, Paramount and the Powers That Be are rumored to be shuffling the deck behind the scenes as they figure out the best way to move forward from here. Chatter regarding the series has been minimal since this past February, but more’s sure to emerge as the release date for the pic approaches.
Presumably, the studio’s simply waiting to see how the movie performs before making any decisions – which is definitely the right move. That means though that the film’s success, or failure, will have an important impact on the Transformers’ big screen future. In other words: Bumbleebee, the hopes of the Autobots lie with you.