The live-action Transformers movies are often remembered fondly for their iconic action scenes, the fan-favorite quality of Bumblebee, and the endless memories of the films concluding with a Linkin Park song to send fans home. But it’s also beloved for the many deadly villains that challenged the Autobots and humans at every turn. While they may sometimes look like a menagerie of metal and points, fans can still recall seeing Starscream terrorize Sam Witwicky or Megatron stabbing Optimus Prime in the back. That said, while the fourth and fifth installments weren’t the most memorable, they had a great villain to challenge their heroes.




Transformers: Age of Extinction was most famous for introducing the villain, Galvatron, in live-action and showing that he was just as evil and every bit as ruthless as his predecessor. Galvatron first appeared in 1986’s The Transformers: The Movie, where he was the reformatted version of Megatron that Unicron created following a near-fatal battle against Optimus Prime. Though he’s not as memorable as Megatron, he’s every bit as interesting, and that’s part of the reason why it was such a surprise that he was forgotten in Transformers: The Last Knight in favor of Megatron, with an incredibly weak explanation as to why.


Galvatron’s Birth Represented a Change in the Franchise


Transformers: Dark of the Moon was, for all intents and purposes, the ending to a chapter in the franchise’s history. With the conclusion of the film, it marked the end of the Witwicky storyline as well as seeing Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and other heroes as the warriors fans knew them as. With Transformers: Age of Extinction, it was a blend of a fugitive story and the rising of a lost knight. The Autobots were being hunted by the US government for their part in the final battle of the last film, which led to thousands of deaths. Meanwhile, Optimus Prime, now revealed to be a knight, slowly regains his status over two films. Ultimately, Transformers: Age of Extinction took things to a new level and wasn’t afraid to get a bit more brutal as beloved heroes like Ratchet were mercilessly assassinated. The same could also be said for Megatron, who got it just as bad as those he fought against.

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By using his brainwaves, Megatron became the blueprint for a human version of a Transformer built with a new material called “Transformium.” This material made transforming look more digitized for viewers but was used to create these robotic drones for users to pilot. While the idea was sound, those same creators didn’t think that they could gain sentience, which was what Megatron did, becoming reborn as Galvatron. Where the villain was once a messenger for Unicron, this iteration of Galvatron had more agency as he represented what can only be described as Megatron’s spirit, taking over with a promise to finish what he started. From the moment he was introduced, Galvatron quickly proved how much of a threat he could be and built an army of followers that allowed him to decimate a city, even while Lockdown tried to glass the planet with his superweapon known as the Seed. Ultimately, Galvatron’s first appearance and vow to return in the sequel set him up for a second appearance that would likely see him be the leader audiences never saw Megatron as and be a genuine threat to the few Autobots left on Earth.


Megatron’s Return Felt Like a Course Correction

Megatron with a weapon on his back in Transformers: The Last Knight

Age of Extinction left fans with a feeling that there was a chance Galvatron would not only return but do so with far more of a threatening presence than the one he was introduced with. As a result, while the film was a huge shift from what fans were used to already, it represented a chance to see how a new villain could carry on Megatron’s legacy. He could even be a true villain to the Autobots in a way that The Fallen and Sentinel Prime were in the past trilogy, just without stepping over Megatron to do it. However, with Transformers: The Last Knight, it was clear that the previous entry may have gone too far off the beaten path because many elements from the previous trilogy made a return in the fifth and final entry of this saga. This was first showcased in Bumblebee’s design, which was much more similar to the original trilogy than what he had in Age of Extinction. The movie also reintroduced the Witwicky plotline, albeit briefly, and also, most importantly, saw Megatron return with a poor explanation as to how and why he did.


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As explained in The Last Knight, Galvatron, at some point, found his way to the movie’s main villain, Quintessa, and was reformatted into a form more similar to what he had on Cybertron, allowing him to retake the name of Galvatron. However, while Optimus found Quintessa after traveling through space, there was no reason why Galvatron found her when he had no alt-mode that allowed him to fly. Nevertheless, Megatron was back and now carried a mantle ironically more fitting for Galvatron as he was the one who served as a harbinger of a greater doom in the animated film. Yet, Megatron was not only the new form but one that was finally more reminiscent of how he looked in the G1 era with his dome-shaped head and arm cannon.


It was painfully obvious how returning to Megatron was a bit of a course correction for the franchise and, unfortunately, marked the end of that era of the series. But more tragically, Megatron has yet to be seen in live action since he appeared in The Last Knight. Granted, this iteration of Megatron wasn’t bad in the least and saw the return of Frank Welker in the role alongside Optimus Prime. Unfortunately, it came too little too late, and the explanation for his change wasn’t prevalent enough for fans to easily recall. It has become a pseudo-mystery as to why Galvatron became Megatron again. But the real mystery is why it was decided to cut off Galvatron before he had a chance to prove himself.

Galvatron Deserved So Much Better in Live-Action


For fans of the live-action Transformers movies, it’s easy to assume there wasn’t much for Galvatron to offer the franchise when Megatron was clearly the more popular villain in the franchise. However, in the G1 series and many iterations that came before, when Galvatron replaced Megatron, it became a permanent fixture on that show and represented an upgrade for the character. Therefore, Galvatron could’ve and should’ve been the main focus in the sequel as he had the opportunity to do so much more in a way that Megatron never could. For starters, thanks to the Transformium, the Autobots would have to contend with a villain that could become intangible at a moment’s notice and become a truck or possibly anything he wanted, making Galvatron nearly unstoppable. Plus, with The Last Knight teasing Unicron, it was a perfect chance for Galvatron to find his higher calling and use his army to set Earth up for the main villain’s appearance, even if Unicron was technically the Earth in the Bayverse.


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It’s no secret in the Bayverse films that many characters weren’t given the chance to shine as they had in the cartoon. For example, Jazz was unceremoniously killed in the first film even though he was easily the most energetic and promising Autobot of the group. Then Shockwave, a notoriously vile and twisted Decepticon, became a typical brutish villain who was essentially the physical threat of the film and nothing more. But in the case of Galvatron, there was something particularly hurtful about how he was treated because there was a clear intention of something more. Not only was Galvatron set up to be a stronger and deadlier villain, but he already had an army, had the means to try and take over Earth, and appeared at a time when the Autobots were at their weakest. To add to that, by The Last Knight, there were no new Autobots added, meaning that the odds of Galvatron taking over Earth before the fifth film could’ve been incredibly high. All in all, Galvatron may have been the main villain in one of the more controversial Transformers movies, but he was a welcome change in a franchise that desperately needed it, and it’s a shame that such an iconic villain from the show was pushed to the side for another chance at Megatron.


Optimus Prime stands with the Autobots and the Maximals in Transformers Rise of the Beasts Poster

Transformers

Transformers is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, such as vehicles and animals.

First Film
Transformers

Cast
Peter Cullen , Wil Wheaton , Shia LaBeouf , Megan Fox , Luna Lauren Velez , Dominique Fishback



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