Are Megatron and the Decepticons in ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’? Explained

When it comes to the world of Transformers, there’s no doubt that we often think of the Decepticons as the main antagonists that the Autobots have to go up against to save the day. But the thing about Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is that it revolves more around Unicron and a batch of new minions that he ordered around to try to get the Transwarp Key. So, are Megatron and the Decepticons in Rise of the Beasts?

Megatron and the Decepticons are not in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. That’s because Megatron was yet to be freed from his frozen state at this point in the Transformers timeline. As such, the main enemies of Rise of the Beasts are the Terrorcons led by the powerful Scourge.

The fact that there are new enemies that the Autobots had to contend with in Rise of the Beasts says a lot about how far the Transformers lore the franchise is diving into. It can also be refreshing to see new enemies no longer Decepticons. However, we know that we will eventually see the iconic villain’s return in the Transformers franchise’s future.

Megatron Isn’t in Rise of the Beasts

For decades, it has always been the case that we can’t really separate Optimus Prime and Megatron. That’s because they have always been locked in an eternal conflict, and this rivalry was carried over into the Transformers film franchise, where almost every movie included Optimus and Megatron. Of course, Megatron was always the most iconic villain in the Transformers franchise, and that’s why he always finds a way to return to the picture.

Of course, Optimus Prime and the Autobots returned in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which is a sequel to the Bumblebee movie, a prequel to the Michael Bay Transformers movie, and a reboot of the entire franchise in terms of its direction. The movie also introduced a new cast of characters that could very well carry the franchise into the future, and the Maximals are some of them.

But while the storyline of Rise of the Beasts focuses a lot on a new cast of characters and how the Autobots are involved in the entire battle for a relic called the Transwarp Key, the thing about the film is that the Decepticons aren’t even involved in the plot. In what seems to be the first time in the Transformers movie franchise, there are no Decepticons that the Autobots need to defeat. And that means that we don’t get to see Megatron in Rise of the Beasts.

While Megatron and the Decepticons aren’t in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, some enemies are just as terrifying or are probably more threatening than the Decepticons. We are talking about the Terrorcons led by Scourge. The Terrorcons work for the massive planet-eating entity Unicron as he orders Scourge and his minions to seek planets he could consume. And in the case of the events of Rise of the Beasts, Scourge and his lackeys are searching for the Transwarp Key so that Unicron can use it to get to different galaxies at will.

So, even though Megatron isn’t the big bad guy that the Autobots had to defeat in Rise of the Beasts, they ended up contending against an enemy that’s just as threatening due to how the entire world’s fate was on balance. And that is also why Optimus Prime and his people had to ally with humans and the Maximals in the fight against the extremely powerful Terrorcons that shared a fraction of Unicron’s godlike powers.

Where Is Megatron in Rise of the Beasts?

As mentioned, neither Megatron nor the Decepticons are in the events of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Instead, we look at Scourge and the Terrorcons as the enemies that replaced the Decepticons. So, why isn’t Megatron in Rise of the Beasts?

It is worth mentioning that Rise of the Beasts takes place before the events of the original Michael Bay Transformers movies. While we aren’t sure whether Rise of the Beasts is looking to reset the entire Transformers franchise timeline in a reboot, we know that Megatron hasn’t been freed from his frozen state.

In the first Transformers live-action movie, we saw that the US government kept Megatron in a suspended state after he was frozen in ice years ago when he presumably crashed and got frozen centuries before the events of the Transformers movie. As such, the government’s goal was to ensure that Megatron stayed frozen due to how big of a threat he was. And it was only when Starscream and the other Decepticons found his location that they could free him.

The events of Rise of the Beasts take place in 1994, meaning that Megatron has yet to wake up from his suspended state, considering that the events of the first Transformers movie take place during the latter part of the 2000s. And because they don’t have a true leader that could lead them against the Autobots, we can make the presumption that the Decepticons are acting independently all over the world during the events of Rise of the Beasts, much like how some Decepticons in the Bumblebee movie were acting on their own without a leader.

Considering that Megatron isn’t around to unite the Decepticons, they have no reason to include themselves in the entire affair involving the Autobots, Maximals, and Terrorcons. But it is possible that we won’t have to wait for a long time before Megatron and his lackeys return in the Transformers franchise. Megatron is far too iconic for the franchise to simply write off, which is why he and his Decepticons will eventually return in the future.

We aren’t sure if the new Transformers franchise will change the events of history by rebooting the entire timeline events. Of course, we know that Megatron spent centuries in ice before he was liberated in the first Transformers movie. So, if the current franchise were to reboot the entire timeline, Megatron’s story is likely to change as well.

There’s also the fact that the Transformers franchise is setting up Unicron as the big villain that will be a threat for a long time. We know he lost Scourge and some other Terrorcons in the fight against the Autobots and the Maximals. Optimus also said Unicron was still alive, albeit trapped within time and space. As such, he is still a threat and will return in a future installment wherein the Transformers are set to destroy him once and for all. Of course, Unicron is in dire need of new lackeys, and that is probably where Megatron will come in to replace Scourge.