Yahoo Finance Transformers timeline – How to watch them in chronological order, including Bumblebee
You might not think that the timeline of Transformers movies is as confusing as other sprawling film franchises. When we think of perplexing movie chronologies, Terminator is certainly one that springs to mind – or Marvel and Star Wars for their sheer size.
But with 2018's Bumblebee and the several future films in the works, the Transformers timeline is actually more ambiguous than we once thought. So to make a slightly confusing timeline less confusing, here's how to watch all the Transformers movies in chronological order (as opposed to release-date order).
Bumblebee (2018)
Bumblebee is the most recent film in the timeline, but it is the first chronologically. The film is set 20 years before the first movie in 1987, and despite it being a prequel it isn't a soft reboot of the franchise.
However, the story does mess up some of the plots 'to come' (so to speak). Bumblebee takes place during the Cybertron Civil War; in a last-ditch effort to survive, Optimus Prime sends Autobot scout B-127 to Earth to form a base where they can regroup. There, the scout befriends a girl named Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), who names him Bumblebee.
As we explained when Bumblebee was released: "one of the biggest continuity issues stems from the decision to include Sector 7 in Bumblebee. They end up working with the Decepticons who somehow convince them that Bumblebee is a 'dangerous criminal' they need to hunt down.
Sector 7 act like it's the first time they've ever met a Decepticon, and allow them access to their satellites, with Sector 7 excited by the prospect of what they can learn from the Decepticons." The problem being Sector 7 had been using Decepticon technology throughout the 20th century.
As established in the first Transformers film, that they've been reverse-engineering modern devices from the frozen body of Megatron, which they discovered in the Arctic. So it's hard to believe they wouldn't know a Decepticon when they saw one.
It also throws out the entire timeline of the Autobots meeting up on Earth at the end of Bumblebee: in Transformers, they arrive on Earth after a stranded Bumblebee sends a beacon. So which is it, hm? Who knows? We don't.
Transformers (2007)
The beginning of the ...not beginning, apparently! The first Transformers movie set up the main timeline that has been moderately disrupted by Bumblebee.
But it's worth pointing out that every film in the series basically pretty much rewrote the history of how long the Autobots have been on Earth, even writing them into the mythology of King Arthur (yep!).
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
This Transformers movie establishes the mythology dating back to 17,000 BCE which, given how flimsily the films are all held together, is neither here nor there. It takes place two years after the events of the previous film but the story still revolves around Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) who gets a shard of this thing called the AllSpark which causes him to have visions.
It turns out he's being haunted (yes) by the Decepticons under the orders of an ancient Decepticon named The Fallen, who seeks to get revenge on Earth by finding and activating a machine that would provide the Decepticons with an energon source, destroying the sun and all life on Earth in the process. This is the last film to star Megan Fox, who would go on to be replaced by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as Sam's love interest.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
This film continues to follow the Autobots and Decepticons in the final days of their war as they battle to possess powerful technology from their homeworld crashed on Earth's Moon to restore their home. Surprise, surprise, the Autobots win!
You'd think this would be the end of the series, but no...
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
We begin sixty-five million years ago (yep) in which an alien race known as the "Creators" used devices called Seeds to cover Earth with an alloy that will one day be called "Transformium", wiping out the dinosaurs in the process. In the present day, geologist Darcy Tirrel excavates the Transformium for KSI Industries, who use it to build Transformer drones.
Though some of the Transformers from the previous films appear in this one, it features an entirely new human cast including Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci and Kelsey Grammer, amongst others.
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
This is the film in which we get the King Arthur mythology, which – well, we got nothing. The whole film is pegged onto the mythology, featuring a descendent of Merlin (Laura Haddock stars as Viviane Wembly) and you know, King Arthur himself. Anyway, by the end the Autobots leave Earth to rebuild what is left of Cybertron.
But this isn't where it ends (of course).
Bumblebee itself will have further sequels that will likely run parallel to Transformers 7, the direct sequel to The Last Knight. Confusingly, Bumblebee did not set up an alternate timeline, but rather sits within the main continuity as a prequel.
Whether the next Transformers film solves the whole Unicron thing, or the Quintessa-is-still-alive thing remains to be seen. For now, we're just excited for the next Bumblebee movie in the works.
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