New Transformers One Clips At Comic-Con Show The Bots’ Hilarious First Transformation

Previous Transformers animated series have offered some details about life on Cybertron millions of years before the Autobots and Decepticons came to Earth. Later this year, the new animated film Transformers One will flesh out that history and reveal where things went wrong for former friends turned bitter enemies, Optimus Prime and Megatron. Now, on the first day of Comic-Con, Paramount welcomed fans to Hall H with some exclusive clips from Transformers One.

The first clip featured Optimus and Megatron when they were still Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-12 (Brian Tyree Henry). Orion arranged for himself and D-12 to watch a prestigious race on Cybertron. Sentinel Prime is treated like a celebrity by the crowd and it’s mentioned that the Matrix of Leadership has been missing for 50 cycles, and energon is rare.

Orion brashly enters himself and D-12 into the race even though they can’t transform like the other contestants. They do well at first, but ultimately the pair have to shoot themselves out of a cannon in order to get third place. The fact that they’re both miners makes them instant favorites with the crowd.

The second clip captured another pivotal moment from the past, as Orion, D-12, Elita (Scarlett Johansson), and B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key)–the future Bumblebee–are given the ability to transform by Alpha Trion (Laurence Fishburne). It changes their appearances so that they more closely resemble their classic look. Alpha Trion also covers their escape from enemy forces by transforming into a rhino-like beast and attacking their foes.

The four friends’ first attempts to transform go badly in a very comical way. But they finally get it together and transform into Cybertronian vehicles and get away.

Finally, a third clip revealed that Steve Buscemi is voicing Starscream, who was one of the Cybertronian High Guard along with Shockwave and Soundwave. Starscream mentions witnessing the fall of the Primes, and the four friends are their captives who have just been awakened. Starscream and D-12 get into a fight that quickly escalates into the latter’s transformation into a giant gun. Only Orion is able to talk D-12 out of killing Starscream. And the future Megatron promises that this is the last time he will show mercy.

The panel closed out with a new Transformers One trailer, which has now been released online.

Transformers One will hit theaters on September 20.