Netflix is heading to Cybertron in a brand new, original animated series set in the Transformers universe. Announced today, the streaming giant and Hasbro have partnered with Rooster Teeth for Transfers: War for Cybertron, an all-new original series set to premiere in 2020.
While we've had animated Transformers series in the past, Netflix says War for Cybertron will feature "a new animation look and style that presents the Transformers like you’ve never seen them before."
“In this Transformers origin story, we will explore the expansive universe of Cybertron in a way that audiences have never seen before - to the delight of both existing fans and those coming to the franchise for the first time,” said John Derderian, Director of Anime for Netflix. “The Transformers brand is a global phenomenon and we are thrilled to partner with Hasbro, Rooster Teeth and Polygon to bring this exciting new series to our members around the world on Netflix.”
Rooster Teeth (RWBY, gen:LOCK) will produce the original series for Netflix with Polygon Pictures serving as the animation studio. FJ DeSanto, a franchise veteran who has worked on the Transformers animated web series Titans Return and Power of the Primes, has been brought on as series showrunner. He'll be joined by an impressive roster of contributing writers, including George Krstic (Megas XLR), Gavin Hignight (Transformers: Cyberverse), and Brandon Easton (Agent Carter, Transformers: Rescue Bots).
“We're thrilled to work with Rooster Teeth’s new premium studio division to bring an all-new Transformers fan-oriented series to Netflix," added Tom Warner, Senior Vice President for the Transformers franchise for Hasbro. “Transformers has a rich history of great storytelling and War for Cybertron is an exciting new chapter in the Transformers Universe."
The Transformers prequel spinoff, Bumblebee, was the last major entry the franchise has seen and it received mostly positive reviews. The sixth installment in the live-action film series brought in over $400 million at the worldwide box office, an impressive enough run to warrant a sequel which is reportedly in development. If War for Cybertron can do half as good of a job as Bumblebee did with that goosebump-inducing opening sequence, then we might be in for a real treat.
Look out for more news regarding Transformers: War for Cybertron closer to 2020.