Hollywood films releasing in the Summer of 2023 have been packed like sardines. All the tentpole films either belong to a named IP or are getting helmed by an acclaimed director. Sometimes it’s both!
Films like Across the Spider-Verse, The Flash, Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Mission Impossible- Dead Reckoning: Part One are all part of the summer lineup.
It’s almost certain that they will cannibalize the box office, but for now, all the hype is about another franchise struggling to land at the box office: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Once upon a time, the Transformers franchise pulled billions at the box office. But those days are seemingly over because Rise of the Beast hasn’t roared like expected.
However, the ending of the movie is generating chatter across social media because of a possible crossover. If this comes true, the future of Transformers will be quite different. In fact, it looks like the days of Michael Bay and his kind of Transformers are over. So what is shown in the ending of Rise of the Beasts?
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
After the Autobots, Maximals, and humans defeat Unicron, his Terrorcons, and Scourge, Anthony Ramos’ Noah Diaz returns to NYC to find a job. He gets interviewed by Michael Kelly’s Agent Burke and gets offered a position with his secret government agency fighting a secret war.
Burke gives him a card that reveals he works for G.I. Joe. This signals that a crossover between the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises is coming up.
The Plot of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
The seventh film in the Transformers franchise expands on the world of robots we are familiar with. However, to be precise, this is the second film in the rebooted timeline. As such, the franchise has shed the canon presented by Michael Bay’s Transformers. The Autobots here have come into contact with the Maximals, Unicron, and Terrorcons.
The plot of the film revolves around the Transwrap Key. This is the only way the Autobots can go back to Cybertron. In the wrong hands, it can wreak havoc on Earth. The film shows that centuries before the events of the film, the home planet of the Maximals gets invaded by Unicron.
He is a dark god who devours planets rich in the mineral Energon to power himself. This time, he wants the Transwrap Key. This artifact can open portals anywhere through time and space.
If Unicron gets his hands on this, he will be able to go anywhere in the universe and feed on whatever planets he wants. This mystic artifact is defended by a faction of the Transformers. Apelinq, the Maximals’ leader, holds off Scourge (Peter Dinklage), the right-hand of the Unicron, while Ron Perlman’s Optimus Primal hides the precious Transwrap Key.
So Unicron gets stranded near the planet of the Maximals’. Even though the gargantuan villain successfully devours the home planet of the Maximals’, if he doesn’t get the Transwrap Key, he won’t be able to eat anymore. So he orders his trusted servant Scourge and the Terrorcons to comb through the universe to get that Key.
The Maximals find themselves on Earth, and they split the Key into two parts to hide them on two sides of the planet. The film says that they have been on the planet for 5000 years. It is in 1994 that Dominique Fishback’s Elena finds one-half of the artifact and ends up activating it. This leads the Terrorcons to Earth. The Autobots and Maximals team up to fight them.
The Autobots are after the other half of the Key because it can take them to their planet Cybertron, where they can win against the Decepticons. The Autobots have been on Earth for seven years since the events of the film, Bumblebee, that happened in 1987. Things get worse when Bumblebee gets destroyed in the fight against the Terrorcons, who get one-half of the Key.
To revive Bumblebee, Prime wants to take him back to his home planet of Cybertron and inject him with Energon. But they need the other half of the Key to do that. This search alerts Unicron. Elena and Anthony Ramos’ Noah Diaz think about destroying the Key so that Unicron remains stranded forever. This leads to the Autobots allying with the two humans.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Ending Explained
During the climactic battle, Scourge uses the magical Transwrap Key to create a portal and bring Unicron to the planet. Since the dark god is Gargantuan, it takes time for him to pass. The heroes’ alliance uses this time to defeat the Terrorcons and defend Earth. So for the final battle, the Autobots, Maximals, and humans team up to defeat Unicron.
However, the Transwrap Key can’t be destroyed. Doing so would create an explosion big enough to kill everyone. So the team decides to fall back on a safety code to switch off Scourge.
The humans retrieve it through the duct pipes attached to the control panel of the Transwrap Key. Autobots and Maximals take over the Terrorcons’ base, but things go wrong here.
Not only Scourge refuses to abandon his station, but Unicron sends reinforcements to his Terrorcons. This is where Pete Davidson’s Mirage takes on Scourge to give Noah and Elena a chance to shut down the Key. But Scourge is way too powerful, and Mirage falls. As he lies dying, he gives Noah combat armor made from his body parts.
What also turns the tide is Bumblebee’s return. He gets revived when the activation of the Transwrap Key fuels Energon into him from the grave he was kept in.
Ultimately, the Terrorcons get destroyed, and Elena puts in the kill code on the control terminal of the Transwrap Key. However, with his dying breath, Scourge destroys the terminal. Thus, making Unicron’s arrival inevitable.
Optimus Prime tells everyone to retreat, but he stays behind to destroy the Key. Ultimately, the artifact gets destroyed, the portal closes, and Unicron gets trapped in space. Even though Prime almost gets sucked into the portal, he gets saved by Primal and Noah.
However, without the Transwrap Key, there’s no way for the Maximals and Autobots to return to their planets. But Primal and Prime still team up to protect Earth since Unicron is still out there and might return for revenge.
Is G.I. Joe in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?
Before the end, the film has an eyebrow-raising surprise for its viewers. After Noah returns to NYC, he tries to get a job. In his latest job interview, he gets asked about his Peru adventures. The interviewer, Michael Kelly’s Agent Burke, informs Noah that he’s part of a secret government group fighting to keep the Earth safe.
He says that Noah, as well as his friends, would be great additions to his agency. Burke also says that since Noah helped save the world, the group will even pay for Noah’s brother’s hospital bills for his entire life. In return, he wants to use Noah’s expertise to help them in their secret war. Also, Burke wants to use his connection to the Autobots to ally with them.
The business card he gets from him mentions that the agency is G.I. Joe. As such, it looks like the G.I. Joe will crossover with the Transformers. In the end, it isn’t shown if Noah accepts or declines, but almost every viewer knows that a crossover is coming.
After all, both Transformers and G.I. Joe are major toy lines for Hasbro, and a crossover would help boost interest in both.
G.I. Joe needs this help the most since the Channing Tatum and Dwayne Johnson franchise ended about ten years ago, and Snake Eyes bombed before it could rise. As such, this seems to be the latest attempt from Paramount to reboot and revive the IP.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now in theaters.
So what did you think of the ending of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?
Did the ending do justice to the film? Will we get to see a G.I. Joe and Transformers crossover? Will Unicron return?
Let us know in the comments below.
