Beast Wars Reboot

I've spent the last, oh, 12 years of my life wishing desperately Beast Wars would come back for a continuation to the saga, but I've come to accept this is unlikely. It's now been far too long since the series was on the air, the target audience of kids wouldn't remember it and so would be lost on the characters and what's already happened.

Instead, what I think would be cool would be to do a reboot. A lot of the threads of the series would stay the same, as would most of the characters (and voice actors, with a few exceptions I don't want to see anyone else playing these characters, and the very idea of not bringing Garry Chalk, David Kaye and Scott McNeil back is criminal) but some things can be tightened and streamlined so maybe you hit the major points of the series by Season 1 or 2 and then can move on from there. Other things could be fleshed out more, and new things can be added to also make it more interesting.

But there'd have to be surprises too. Some things you can't improve on, so changes would need to be made - for instance, Dinobot's death episode needs to happen completely differently so it's not always in the shadow of Code of Hero, great (but unnecessary) episodes like Transmutate shouldn't be included, etc.

Also, some things I always wanted to happen, but never did could go down.

First Season Cast:

Optimus Primal (Garry Chalk): Still basically the same as he ever was, but much more established as a new and untested commander who though very competent and noble makes mistakes and has difficulties with the people skills necessary to lead. Because the Maximal High Council fears that the mission to dispose of Protoform X might end up in the destruction of the group carrying him, they assign it to a disposable new commander like him.

Rhinox (Richard Newman): A former commanding officer of Optimus' at the academy and like a big brother to him. He was retired and wanted no part of this mission, but Optimus convinces him to come because he needs an experienced leader to support him but promises he's just on the mission for the science and exploration part of it. Rhinox is much more respected by the team and often acts as an intermediary. I think one change is that at some point in the middle of the series, I'd probably have him die.

Cheetor (Ian James Corlett) He's basically the same, minus the "Ultra Gear!" and all that. I'll also have less episodes focused on him going and wandering out on his own. Not sure what kind of arc he'll have beyond growing up, I almost didn't include him at all and was going to make Airazor the young, impulsive one, but I figured Cheetor was too core to not include.

Airazor (I think I'd maybe recast her, Pauline Newstone doesn't really blow me away and I want a younger sound) A tough, competent, but sensitive young officer who is in a relationship with Tigatron (also recasted, I like Blu Mankuma but I'm taking Tigatron a different way and giving him a younger, wilder feel). Tigatron is introduced as a soldier on the Axalon, but goes into stasis for the journey shortly before the skirmish with the Nemesis and so is jettisoned in the pod. When he's found on Earth, he believes himself to be a tiger and so is wild, roaring and feral (along the lines of Cheetor in Feral Scream) and has no memory of who he was. A lot of Airazor's arc is trying to get him back in touch with who he is, and there'll be a Beauty and the Beast dynamic to their relationship. Eventually Tigatron will regain his memory and sense of identity, but he'll still be a rough, occasionally bestial version of himself and feel more at home out in the wild. A bit of a different take, and I'll be giving the characters more focus and not ditching them so soon if at all. Nowadays, you can't not have a prominent female member of the good guys.

Last, but not least, Rattrap (Scott McNeil) begins as not a member of Optimus' crew. He's a master thief and mercenary who stowed away on the Axalon because he heard rumors of precious, valuable cargo hidden on board which he was planning on stealing and making off with - a miscommunication as the secret cargo is obviously Rampage. He's discovered shortly before the attack and when they crash on Earth, as Rattrap is a Maximal and Optimus' resources are limited, he becomes an ally of the team, although he's heavily untrusted, has a tendency to disobey orders when it suits him, and only cares about himself. He and Optimus openly do not get along, but Rhinox intervenes on his behalf as he sees a glimmer of a good side in the rat. Obviously, as time goes on, Rattrap will prove himself a valuable member of the team and grow closer with his teammates who will come to see him as a friend. A big moment will be that when Rhinox dies, Rattrap will have grown so much that Optimus will name him the new second-in-command.


Predacons:

Megatron (David Kaye): Other than getting more into who he was and what led him here, I'd honestly keep Megatron's whole thing and personality pretty much the same. He's pretty much perfect as is. But I would want to reflect back on his life. I envision him as being an exceptionally talented young idealistic politician who could never advance to real power because he wasn't a Maximal. Originally his concerns were for Predacon rights and equality, but overtime the persecution he suffered as a Predacon and because of his ancestor and namesake (I'd have him as a direct descendant of Megatron I) kind of warped him into wanting Predacon dominion and utter destruction of Maximals with him in charge. But he'd still be remaining the smooth, charismatic, cunning Megatron we all love.

Dinobot (Scott McNeil): Megatron's loyal second in command. Perhaps the biggest change I'm making is that I would take the time to slowly build Dinobot's defection to the Maximals and really establish the Megatron/Dinobot relationship. Dinobot wouldn't join the Maximals and wouldn't betray Megatron until the end of the first season and when he does it would be a lot less abrupt than it was in the first episode. Megatron and Dinobot are long time best friends who went to Academy together and always fought side by side - Megatron had the brains and charisma, Dinobot had the brawn and fighting skills. They both had a profound affect on each other - Dinobot tried to keep Megatron's crazed ambition in check, and remember his Predacon honor and heritage, while Megatron encouraged Dinobot to consider broader themes like destiny and their role in the universe. At first Dinobot essentially plays the role a Scorponok or Inferno would (obviously... in a Dinobot way, so more ruthless and lethal than Scorponok, and more sane and serious than Inferno) as Megatron's top enforcer, but over time he would come to see how insane and off the right path Megatron has grown and go disillusioned with him, as well as seeing first hand what a better and more honorable team the Maximals are. And he'd join them.

Dinobot's final death would come much closer to the end of the series, perhaps in the final season whenever that is, and this version of Maximal No More than proceeds it will be a longer arc rather than just a one episode temporary conversion. Rattrap and Dinobot will have known each other since before the show, and already have a deep-seeded grudge and rivalry especially since they're on opposite sides. However, Rattrap is also the only Maximal who is deeply familiar with his code of honor and will ultimately be the one instrumental in convincing the Maximals to accept him.

Tarantulas (Alex Willows): He's about the same. Schemer and tangle web spinner extraordinare, who clearly has his own agenda but Megatron tolerates because Tarantulas has scientific skills he needs. I'm going to ditch all the cannibal/gluttony stuff as I thought it was silly and took away from the cooler parts of Tarantulas. I'll also get into his origins a lot quicker, establishing him as a third party descended from neither side. But his role will essentially be the same, and possibly a bit bigger since I'm not including Terrorsaur, and so Tarantulas is the treacherous one from day one.

Blackarachnia (Venus Terzo): Changing some things with her. Unlike in the original, she's not from a stasis pod but had a life on Cybertron and is an original Predacon crew member. She was once a poor Maximal criminal living on the streets always running from the law. She met Tarantulas a teenager and sort of fell under the spell of the brilliant, mysterious 'Predacon' and sort of became a disciple (and lover) of his and he brought her alongside on his mission with Megatron. However, by the time of the series beginning, Blackarachnia has gotten a taste of the power life with Megatron and Tarantulas has provided and feels like she no longer needs to be anyone's disciple and starts schemes of her own, which will lead to the fractured relationship between her and Tarantulas and Megatron. I'm not sure where I see the character ultimately going, but I do suspect I actually would NOT want to include Silverbolt in this one, because as soon as he shows up, that relationship becomes all the characters are about. I think rather than tying her to one love story I'd want to explore her as an individual - although I think I'll include Cheetor's crush on her. She won't necessarily return the kid's affections but she may at least be changed by seeing someone with positive, pure-hearted affections rather than Tarantulas' creepy manipulations. I like her better as a tragic figure though, someone who maybe tried to redeem herself and go to the side of light but maybe was never quite able to do it. So I think, like with Crossing the Rubicon, seeing Blackarachnia become independent and pull away from him, Tarantulas will try to destroy her rather than see her go free - only this time he will succeed. This could also do interesting things for a bereaved angry Cheetor who now becomes obsessed with taking Tarantulas down.

Waspinator (Scott McNeil) - Yeah, he's the same. Comic relief. He'll be the only just comic relief Predacon though, as I'll take a more serious look at Inferno and won't be including Quickstrike. With such darkness on that side of the aisle, we'll need Waspy for humor. I've also heard a theory that Waspinator has a birth defect which placed his spark inside his head rather than in his torso (which is why he can be so utterly decimated, but his head never seems to be destroyed) which allows him to be much difficult to kill. I'd explore that - Megatron literally utilizing him for his disposability, because he can always be rebuilt and not killed.

Inferno (Jim Byrnes) - Inferno will have been a member of the Maximals who was put into stasis and then landed not long after Tigatron and has the same problem of thinking he's the animal (naturally, it's Inferno) but what I think I'd do is originally have him be a part of the Maximals, but the violent deadly insanity he now has forces them to realize there's nothing left of their once friend and they're forced to let him go... to be drafted by the Predacons. When Dinobot defects to the Maximals, Inferno will sort of take his role as Megatron's enforcer.

Rampage (Recast I think, I've never really felt his voice fit or sounded monsterish enough) - He'd be found earlier, in Season 1, and his characterization would be much more Season 2 than Season 3, with a deeper, more introspective look into him and moments like in Transmutate that show a different side to him. I will not be including Depth Charge. In addition to me not liking Rampage being whittled down to just that one rivalry, I also think it just makes it too much like the original series.

So yeah, that'd be the cast. For now, no Terrorsaur, Scorponok, Silverbolt, Quickstrike, Depth Charge or Dinobot 2. Future characters who come will be new people, and only Inferno and Tigatron will be coming from stasis pods. I'm going to eventually make Cybertron a factor, with Earth becoming more of a battleground as the war grows more epic in scale.