History Trivia / Bumblebee

** In the Japanese dub and, [[LightNovel/YoujoSenki while not the first time she has voiced a villainous role before]], Creator/AoiYuuki's role as Shatter counts as this, as she is normally typecasted on voicing heroic roles, the TokenMiniMoe or TheCutie.

** When the first teaser was released, fans naturally assumed the red-and-grey Seeker was Starscream, only for Travis Knight to reveal at Comic-Con 2018 that the Seeker's name was actually Blitzwing. [[spoiler: Since the Seeker is actually a StarterVillain killed off in the film's beginning, it makes they wouldn't want to waste Starscream on that role.]]

* {{Jossed}}: Most fans believed the green conehead Seeker was either Acid Storm or Dirge; concept art reveals it to be Thrust.

* CreatorBacklash: Peter Cullen felt physically sick playing Optimus this time around

** [[Film/TransformersTheLastKnight Erik Aadahl]] doesn't return to voice Bumblebee. Instead, the character is voiced by Creator/DylanOBrien.

** In the Japanese dub Creator/RyoheiKimura replace Akio Kato as Bumblebee.

* FlipFlopOfGod: The film's status has gone back and forth on if it's a prequel to the Michael Bay movies or a complete continuity reboot of the franchise. It ''started'' production as a prequel, but during post-production the movie got overhauled and rewritten to be loosely connected to the past movies, indicating it was being repackaged as a reboot. Comments by producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura indicated it was ''still'' a prequel, before eventually, Hasbro themselves confirmed at a Fan Media Panel at Toy Fair 2019 the film was the start of a "new storytelling universe", confirming it was indeed a full reboot. Later, Bonaventura confirmed that ''Bumblebee'' and its sequel would be a separate continuity but indicated that the Michael Bay films ''would'' still be continued on after ''The Last Knight'', only for ''this'' to be thrown out a week later when he confirmed that instead, the next ''Transformers'' film would be a complete reboot and that ''Bumblebee'' and its sequel will be part of that films' continuity instead.

** Many expected that Bumblebee will eventually [[spoiler:scan the 1976 Camaro in the end of the movie]], as a number of merchandises of him had the alt mode.
** Fans are ''completely happy'' that Hasbro confirmed that ''Bumblebee'' is a complete reboot to the film franchise after 2 months of debate, given the reshoots/rewrites. Fans began to theorize this was the case pretty much as soon as Blitzwing, at the time believed to be Starscream, showed up in trailers sporting the look of a classic Seeker, and the theories got more intense as more information came out. When the movie itself was released, most of the audience either accepted it was a reboot, or strongly believed it ''should be''. Fortunately, that turned out to be the case Hasbro went with.

* RelationshipVoiceActor: This isn't the first time Peter Cullen and David Sobolov have both been in something ''Transformers''-related, as both had worked together on ''VideoGame/TransformersTheGameConsole'' and ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' as with Cullen as Optimus Prime on both projects and Sobolov as Brawl and Shockwave in the respective projects. Incidentally, this is actually Sobolov's fourth ''Transformers'' project, his first being as Depth Charge in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: To a minor extent, the film was released the same month as the mega-hit ''Film/Aquaman2018'', which was dominating the box office and would continue to do so for weeks after. This was likely unintentional as ''Aquaman'' being as big as it was caught ''everyone'' by surprise (it would go on to become the ''highest grossing DC movie of all time''), and despite the competition ''Bumblebee'' still became a modest success considering its budget, but this combined with the tainted perception brought by the previous movies are likely the reason why its overall gross wasn't ''quite'' as high as past installments.

** Some time prior to release, the film went through ''very'' severe reshoots/rewrites, [[JustForPun transforming]] the movie from a straight prequel to a full-on ContinuityReboot.
*** The film originally tied directly into what ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'' presented -- Bumblebee being active on Earth for several decades prior to the 21st century -- and would have opened with Bumblebee already on the run from Sector Seven after having been hunted down. A deleted scene shows an earlier opening with narration from a tired and angry Bumblebee, growling that he's lost patience and faith in humanity due to their betrayal, outright saying they aren't worth saving, before attempting to run. However, this scene was reanimated to include the opening battle scene on Cybertron and presented Bumblebee's arrival as a recent event, with Burns chasing him for not knowing what he is, Bumblebee desperately trying to explain himself, and Burns [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure being willing to listen]].

*** IDW Publishing released a prequel comic series, written by John Barber, set during the 1960s - the midway point between Bumblebee's WWII involvement in ''The Last Knight'' and the 80s setting of this film - that was evidently based on an earlier draft of the film. Notably, Blitzwing appears in the comic and his relationship to Bumblebee is depicted as a decades-long feud due to him killing Diabla, a Decepticon spy who never the less had a soft spot for Bumblebee. In the final film, Blitzwing just happens to be the first Decepticon to get to him first with no indication they knew each other beforehand.
*** Agent Burns was going to be a much more ruthless and less heroic character, with more focus on his FantasticRacism towards Cybertronians due to a FreudianExcuse that his best friend was killed by one. Due to John Cena's natural charm during filming, Travis Knight rewrote his character to be lighter and more fun, and during reshoots his ''entire'' character was overhauled.
** Megatron was originally going to appear during the Cybertron-set opening sequence, but Knight realized this would [[SeriesContinuityError contradict the 2007 movie]], which they were still at the time writing this movie as being in continuity with -- he was frozen on Earth during the time the film was set -- and so the appearance was scrapped. Travis Knight considered putting him back in after deciding to part ways from the [=BayVerse=], but then felt that there was enough going on in the war on Cybertron already, so Megatron was axed for the second and final time.

** Concept art shows Thundercracker with a different color scheme (it has substantially more red on his torso and forearms) than in the movie, where he bears his classic, ''Generation 1'' colors; it's possible the change was done to better differentiate him from Starscream.

** The young adult novelization of the film featured a number of scenes that weren't in the movie, but with the release of the deleted scenes show that they were in fact content cut from the final film (partially for pacing, but also for the aforementioned reworking of the movie into a reboot), showing a number of interesting changes.

*** Memo's interest in ''Go Bots'' would have been more than just a one-scene MythologyGag, with him suggesting that Bumblebee might have in fact been one. The sequence would have also answered where he got the sweatshirt he was wearing after losing his shirt (it was Charlie's).

* ActorAllusion: A sheriff is played by Creator/FredDryer. So naturally, [[Series/{{Hunter}} his car gets trashed]].

* FlipFlopOfGod: The film's status has gone back and forth on if it's a prequel to the Michael Bay movies or a complete continuity reboot of the franchise. It ''started'' production as a prequel, but during post-production the movie got overhauled and rewritten to be loosely connected to the past movies, indicating it was being repackaged as a reboot. Comments by producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura indicated it was ''still'' a prequel, before eventually Hasbro themselves confirmed at a Fan Media Panel at Toy Fair 2019 the film was the start of a "new storytelling universe", confirming it was indeed a full reboot. Later, Bonaventura confirmed that ''Bumblebee'' and its sequel would be a separate continuity but indicated that the Michael Bay films ''would'' still be continued on after ''The Last Knight'', only for ''this'' to be thrown out a week later when he confirmed that in stead, the next ''Transformers'' film would be a complete reboot and that ''Bumblebee'' and its sequel will be part of that films' continuity instead.

** Fans are ''completely happy'' that Hasbro confirmed that ''Bumblebee'' is a complete reboot to the film franchise after 2 months of debate, given the reshoots/rewrites. Fans began to theorise this was the case pretty much as soon as Blitzwing, at the time believed to be Starscream, showed up in trailers sporting the look of a classic Seeker, and the theories got more intense as more information came out. When the movie itself was released, most of the audience either accepted it was a reboot, or strongly believed it ''should be''. Fortunately, that turned out to be the case Hasbro went with.

** In the Hungarian dub, Arcee, Ratchet and Soundwave got new voices. Surprisingly, the title character averts this: despite the original movie recasting him to sound much younger, Bumblebee kept his elderly voice from the previous films (his actor was 64 at the time of recording).

** Wrestling/JohnCena, infamous for being the squeaky-clean Superman of wrestling who WWE wouldn't let go heel because it would hurt his public image, portrays the movie's primary human bad guy, albeit a sympathetic and misguided one, who's working with the Decepticons. He was originally written and portrayed to be much more harsh, but re-shoots took place later to lighten his character up a bit.
** In the Japanese dub and, [[LightNovel/YoujoSenki while not the first time she has voiced a villanous role before]], Creator/AoiYuuki's role as Shatter counts as this, as she sis normally typecasted on voicing heroic roles, the TokenMiniMoe or TheCutie.

* PromotedFanboy: None other than [[WebVideo/HonestTrailers Honest Trailers']] very own Jon Bailey voices Shockwave and Soundwave.
** Besides that, both director Travis Knight and John Cena were childhood fans of Transformers, growing up in the 80s when the show was on and where the film was set.

* RoleReprisal:

* Bee originally had the door wings we saw on the previous movie Bee, but they were removed fairly late in the film's production. As a result, many toys (which were designed when the film was still being worked on) still have them.

** Creator/PeterCullen voices Optimus Prime again.

*** The film originally tied directly in to what ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'' presented - Bumblebee being active on Earth for several decades prior to the 21st century - and would have opened with Bumblebee already on the run from Sector Seven after having been hunted down. A deleted scene shows an earlier opening featured a narration from a tired and angry Bumblebee, growling that he's lost patience and faith in humanity due to their betrayal, outright saying they aren't worth saving, before attempting to run. However, the opening was instead reanimated to include the opening battle scene on Cybertron and presented Bumblebee's arrival as a recent event, with Burns chasing him for not knowing what he is, and Bumblebee desperately trying to explain himself, and Burns being willing to listen.

*** According to someone who attended a test screening, an earlier version of the film featured [[spoiler: a post-credits scene showing Sector 7 in possession of the frozen Megatron, as in the 2007 movie, albeit with a more G1-inspired design.]] This was ultimately removed from the final film, which Travis Knight publicly talked about.

** Megatron was originally going to appear during the Cybertron-set opening sequence, but Knight realized this would [[SeriesContinuityError contradict the 2007 movie]] as they were still at the time writing the movie as being in continuity with, which had him frozen on Earth during the time the film was set, and so the appearance was scrapped. Travis Knight considered putting him back in after deciding to part ways from the [=BayVerse=], but then felt that there was so much going on in the war on Cybertron already, so Megatron was axed for the second and final time.

** Starscream's appearance in the Cybertron scenes appears to have been a later addition to those elements of the film, as earlier trailers depict Blitzwing in his place. The character model was reworked to give him a different head design and brighter colours like Starscream's classic appearance to distinguish the two into separate characters.

** The end scene of the film showing Bumblebee walking through a forest with the recently-arrived Optimus Prime and then witnessing other Autobots about to land wasn't in the initial cut. It still featured Bumblebee driving down the Golden Gate bridge, however whether the familiar red and blue truck he drives alongside was Optimus himself was portrayed as far more ambiguous, as opposed to explicitly being Prime's Earth alt-mode in the final film.
** The young adult novelisation of the film featured a number of scenes that weren't in the movie, but with the release of the deleted scenes show that they were in fact content cut from the final film (partially for pacing, but also for the aforementioned reworking of the movie into a reboot), showing a number of interesting changes.

*** Before she found out Bumblebee was alive, there was going to be a sequence where she washes Bumblebee after bringing him home, only for him to break down during her first drive through town with him. It would have shown her and Otis' relationship to be far more antagonistic than it was in the final film, and give Tina more time to show off her SmugSnake enjoyment of Charlie's suffering.
*** Memo's interest in ''Go Bots'' would have been more than just a one-scene MythologyGag, with him suggesting that Bumblebee might have in-fact been one. The sequence would have also answered where he got the sweatshirt he was wearing after losing his shirt (it was Charlie's).

* FanNickname: The reboot series this movie may start is already called "Knightverse" and "Knightformers" by fans.

* BTeamSequel: Neither Creator/MichaelBay nor actors from previous ''Transformers'' movies (aside from Creator/PeterCullen and Creator/GreyDeLisle) returned (the only other exception to this is Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic being back for VFX duties). As evidenced by critical reception, this is a rare case where this is cited as a ''positive'' example, that is if it's a reboot.

** Megatron was originally going to appear during the Cybertron-set opening sequence, but Knight realized this would [[SeriesContinuityError contradict the 2007 movie]] as they were still at the time writing the movie as being in continuity with, which had him frozen on Earth during the time the film was set, and so the appearance was scrapped.

** In the Hungarian dub, Arcee, Ratchet and Soundwave got new voices. Surprisingly, title character averts this: despite the original movie recasting him to sound much younger, Bumblebee kept his elderly voice from the previous films (his actor was 64 at the time of recording).

* BTeamSequel: Neither Creator/MichaelBay nor actors from previous ''Transformers'' movies (aside from Creator/PeterCullen and Creator/GreyDeLisle) returned. As evidenced by critical reception, this is a rare case where this is cited as a ''positive'' example, that is if it's a reboot.

*** The film originally tied directly in to what ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'' presented - Bumblebee being active on Earth for several decades prior to the 21st century - and would have opened with Bumblebee already on the run from Sector Seven after having been hunted down. However, the opening was instead reanimated to include the opening battle scene on Cybertron and presented Bumblebee's arrival as a recent event.

** The end scene of the film showing Bumblebee walking through a forest with the recently-arrived Optimus Prime and then witnessing other Autobots about to land wasn't in the initial cut. It still featured Bumblebee driving down the Golden Gate bridge, however whether the familiar red and blue truck he drives alongside was Optimus himself was portrayed as far more ambiguous, as opposed to explicitly being Prime's Earth mode in the final film.

* AllThereInTheManual:
** The purple Seeker beheaded by Bumblebee in the Cybertron scene is Hotlink, while the orange one knocked out by his severed head is Sunstorm.
** Memo's full-name is Guillermo Gutierrez, and Tina's last name is Lark.

** Concept art shows Thundercracker'with a different color scheme (it has substantially more red, for example) than in the movie, where he bears his classic, ''Generation 1'' colors; it's possible the change was done to better differentiate him from Starscream.