A few days ago Paramount revealed that the subtitle for Transformers 2 was 'Revenge of the Fallen'. I groaned about it, assuming it was a terrible, generic title. Some TransFans began speculating that the Fallen of the title was actually a character from Transformers comics, an ancient Transformer who seems to play the Devil in their mythology. (A dude called Primus is like God. I think. Maybe the better correlation is that the Fallen is like Darkseid).

The Transformers wiki provides backstory:

At the dawn of time, Primus created new life, the 13 original Transformers, to crew his planetary form into battle against his eternal nemesis Unicron. One of these 13, his original name now lost to the mists of time, turned against his siblings, his creator, and his universe, and betrayed them all.

...this guardian of entropy became obsessed with the darker side of chaos and death, and in the black place these urges led him, the betrayer found a new god, more suited to his nature. He turned against Primus and became the Fallen. Now he is a being of power, darkness, and absolute dedication to Unicron.

Here's what Wikipedia says about him:

Around 6.5 million years ago, a test of the experimental "space bridge" matter-transport system on Cybertron liberated the Fallen from his prison, and he materialised on Cybertron, where he quickly recruited the Chaos Trinity, three mystically-inclined Decepticons - Bludgeon, Mindwipe and Bugly - into his employ. Abducting Transformers that he identified as possessing "genetic potential" within their sparks - Grimlock, Blitzwing, Jetfire and Hot Spot - the Fallen planned to use their energies to awaken Primus from his self-imposed slumber, thereby alerting Unicron to his location, allowing the world-eater to renew hostilities with his old enemy. An attack from combined Autobot and Decepticon forces led by Shockwave and Prowl disrupted his plans, and Primus himself reached out and promptly destroyed the Fallen.

I immediately brushed off speculation about this character, knowing that the first film had no interest in established mythology. I assumed Bay would just keep building on his own, new Transformers story, and the pre-strike plot details I heard backed me up.

Egg, meet face.

Yesterday I heard from a trustworthy source with access to the production that all of my assumptions were wrong. The Fallen of the title, I was told, is in fact the Fallen of the comics.

I have to admit I'm surprised by this, but it does make the title an awful lot less terrible. Now it actually has a meaning. And now the hardcore TransFans, the ones who felt the original didn't represent the stories they loved (they're nuts, since the original was really good and way better than any of the cartoons), can start getting excited. And then start getting angry, since that seems to be what fanbases do.

It's going to be interesting seeing what Bay does with a story that's more cosmic in nature. This whole movie just got a little odder and a little more intriguing. 


Here is another CHUD posting

Last week MTV essentially reran a story we ran months ago, but with different sources: yes, the villain in Transformers 2 is The Fallen, the Satan equivalent Transformer from the recent comic books. Now I'm coming at you with new TF2 news: Megatron is coming back.

OK, I don't think there's a soul out there who will be surprised when Megatron returns in Transformers 2*. If the current incarnation of the script follows the beats of a previous incarnation (which did not feature The Fallen), Megatron may be getting brought back by the Autobots, who need him to conquer the new menace. But I've learned that this time he won't be that weird alien jet. This time he's a tank.

Megatron apparently was a tank in the Transformers Generation 2 comic or toys or something (I don't know, I just looked it up on Wikipedia and I still don't get it), so this has some precedent. I imagine this is as close as we'll get to seeing him be a gun, since the movies appear to eschew the sort of size shifting antics that the comics and cartoons embraced.


*Assuming the damn movie even gets finished with Shia's hand injury and general problems.

Stuff on Wiki

Transformers Movie Sequel: The Reign of Starscream is an IDW Publishing comic book, a sequel to their adaptation of the 2007 live action Transformers film. The comic follows Starscream. The first issue was released in May 2008.

Plot

The first issue follows the story of the film from Starscream's perspective, with him organizing his team to follow Megatron to Earth. During the battle in Mission City, Starscream is enraged by Megatron's uncaring attitude towards the death of his comrades. Following his leader's death, Starscream meets with a wounded Barricade (whom Ironhide caused to crash into a barrier and thus miss the battle) and is told the dead Frenzy had important files on Sam Witwicky and the All Spark. Starscream tells Barricade to carry on his role as his spy on Earth, while he flies to the Hoover Dam to recover Frenzy.

In the second issue, Starscream retrieves Frenzy but is injured, and he is forced to return to Mars in F-22 Raptor form. He explains to Thundercracker he likes his Earth form though, admitting he admires the humans for killing Megatron and destroying the All Spark. The two Seekers decide to return to Cybertron, using Frenzy's data to recreate the All Spark. They begin transmitting the data to Cybertron, and prepare to enter a Space Bridge. Starscream is confident with Optimus Prime on Earth, no one can stop his conquest of their home planet, unaware an Autobot team (consisting of Arcee, Cliffjumper, Air Raid, Camshaft, Smokescreen and Cosmos) are about to attack.

The third issue opens with the Autobots being engaged by a swarm of drones. They easily rip through them, even killing Hardtop, but are put on the defensive as Thundercracker arrives, killing several of them. Arcee, furious at history repeating itself as her colleagues fall, manages to badly wound him, but it is too late: a recharged Starscream arrives and kills all but her. The Decepticons return to Cybertron, with Ramjet having prepared things for his new lord. The data transmitted has been used, and a new All Spark is now under construction.

The series is consistent with Target Corporation's second prequel comic to the film with Wreckage being killed by humans upon arriving on Earth. However, the third issue refers to the torture of Bumblebee's squad (including Arcee) by Megatron, an event which took place in the first issue of the original prequel series, which seemingly takes place in a different continuity. The Transformers use spaceships, the absence of which in the film is explained by the Decepticons parking theirs (the Nemesis) on Mars before flying as protoforms to Earth.