‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ introduces first canonically transgender character to cinematic universe

Being the seventh movie in a massive franchise is already a major milestone, but Transformers: Rise of the Beasts may have done something even more momentous. The newest trailer for the film shows it will not only introduce Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons, but quite possibly the first-ever transgender character in the Transformers cinematic universe.

Arcee was given a small focus in the new trailer, showing off her skills in several action scenes. Fans with an encyclopedic knowledge of Transformers lore may remember that the IDW comic series prominently featured Anode and Lug as transgender robotic characters. In those same comics, Arcee described herself as “forged male” but recognized herself as the person “[she] was always meant to be” in All Hail Optimus Part 3: The Medium And The Message.

The franchise has embraced the possibility of transgender Cybertrons and even Decepticons for quite some time. In the first-generation cartoon, despite it being canonically stated at the time that the robots had no gender, Howlback chose to identify as a female. The idea that there may be transgender robots in the series was also confirmed by Hasbro itself with its Ask Vector Prime feature which was a prominent part of the official Transformers website back when the Transformers: Cybertron cartoon was airing.

While there is no way to confirm whether the complex story around Arcee’s gender will play a role in the upcoming seventh installment to the series, it wouldn’t even be the first time the franchise attempted to be more gender inclusive in modern times. The recent cartoon series Transformers: EarthSpark featured a scene where Nightshade’s pronouns were explicitly stated as they/them, marking a premiere for a nonbinary character in the series.

Fans currently have high hopes for the film despite potential concerns that it might break previously-established continuity for the cinema franchise. The most that can be guessed now is that the movie will take serious inspiration from the hit 1990s classic BeastWars: Transformers.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will burst its way into theaters on June 9, 2023