It's Official: The Bumblebee Spin-Off Is a Prequel to the Original 'Transformers' Trilogy

While we're still a few months away from the premiere of Transformers: The Last Knight, interest in Transformers has already shifted to the next film in the franchise: #Bumblebee. The Bumblebee spin-off was confirmed to be in development some time ago, but it wasn't until recently that Michael Bay spoke with MTV on the future of the #Transformers franchise, and more specifically what's happening with Bumblebee.

'Bumblebee' spin-off is a prequel in the franchise.

According to Bay, the Bumblebee spin-off will take place before Bumblebee met Shia Lebeouf's character Sam Witwicky in Transformers (2007), placing a greater emphasis on Bumblebee than a new troupe of human characters. Bay didn't dismiss the aspect of new human characters being introduced, but he seemed to emphasize a focus on Bumblebee's story than anything else. For the entire interview, check out the video.

Apart from what Bay had to say in regards to Bumblebee, the notion of it being aimed at Bumblebee's past is interesting because that means Bumblebee will either have interactions with other Autobots hiding on Earth, or spend a majority of his time in disguise.

Considering how Bumblebee was the lone Transformer on Earth in the first film, any interactions he would have had with Transformers before that would have been Autobots we haven't seen. That is, unless Bumblebee is the only Autobot on Earth during the events of the Bumblebee spin-off.

Which Autobots will appear alongside Bumblebee?

What's even more interesting is the fate of any potential Autobots who could have been in contact with Bumblebee before he called for Optimus and his crew to Earth in Transformers. They're likely to have been eliminated seeing as how we don't hear of Bumblebee having Autobot contacts before the events of Transformers. Still, we might see a few Autobots, especially if we look at Bumblebee's relationship with Wheeljack.

It's been a while, but some of us may recall Bumblebee's last words to Wheeljack in Transformers: Dark Of The Moon before Wheeljack was executed: "Goodbye old friend."

Now, that line may seem insignificant to some, but considering the possibility of the two having a past together as friends, they may have been in contact with each other before the events of Transformers, making it possible for Wheeljack to show up in the Bumblebee spin-off. Bay has said there are 14 other potential Transformers movies planned, so including Wheeljack in a Bumblebee solo film isn't preposterous to consider.

Regardless, we'll have to wait until we hear more information from Bay as the film gets closer to production. Hopefully we'll get to see Bumblebee leading a troop of his own Autobots, even if we should expect them to be killed off or go into hiding before the movie concludes.