After thirteen years of a specific power being absent, the Transformers franchise has returned an ability to the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime.

Optimus Prime as seen in Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) next to Prime in Transformers One (2024)

After 13 years, Transformers One is providing Optimus Prime with a power that has been absent from the franchise. The first trailer for Transformers One offered a first look at the upcoming animated prequel movie, including Optimus’ various abilities. Interestingly though, the film focuses on the legendary leader of the Autobots when he was named Orion Pax alongside Megatron, then known as D-16. Transformers One‘s voice cast includes the likes of Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry as Optimus and Megatron, selling the idea of younger versions of these characters.

Updates about Transformers One have been common since the release of the first trailer, including the confirmation that the film will hit theaters on September 20, 2024. That said, perhaps the biggest reveal about the film is Transformers One‘s Autobot and Decepticon roster. The film will be filled with the most iconic Transformers characters, each with their own unique skills, abilities, and powers. Concerning Optimus Prime specifically, Transformers One is returning a power that the Autobot has lacked in film since 2011.

Optimus Prime Can Fly Again In Transformers One With Jetpack Upgrade

Optimus Prime Has Regained The Power Of Flight

D-16-and-Orion-Pax-from-Transformers-OneThe power in question is Optimus Prime’s ability to fly. The Transformers One trailer shows Optimus and Megatron using jetpacks to explore Cybertron before crashing to the surface of the planet, seemingly kickstarting the film’s story. This is an interesting development, primarily due to the fact that only Megatron has been shown to fly at length in the recent batch of Transformers movies that began with Michael Bay’s Transformers in 2007.

With Transformers One having Optimus be able to fly, it is returning a power that has only been seen once in the live-action movies. This came in 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, in which Optimus possessed upgrades gained in 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that allowed him to fly. However, since the former, Optimus has remained grounded in the other Transformers films, proving Transformers One‘s jetpack upgrade to return an ability to Prime’s arsenal.

How Optimus Prime’s Flying Is Different In Transformers: Dark Of The Moon

Transformers One’s Flying Is Different From Dark Of The Moon’s

Optimus Prime fighting in Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Despite Optimus regaining his ability to fly for the first time since Dark of the Moon, it is slightly different in Transformers One. The latter movie has Optimus use a jetpack, whereas Dark of the Moon is a jetwing upgrade. The jetpack is different as it does not have wings like the jetwing upgrade did in Dark of the Moon.

…the Decepticon-turned-Autobot gave his parts to Optimus, allowing the latter to unlock a variety of new abilities, including flight.

The jetwing upgrade came from the elderly Transformer known as Jetfire in Revenge of the Fallen. Before he passed, the Decepticon-turned-Autobot gave his parts to Optimus, allowing the latter to unlock a variety of new abilities, including flight. This was featured again at length in Dark of the Moon, allowing Optimus to turn the tide of the battle against Sentinel Prime. In Transformers One, however, the jetpack that allows Optimus to fly is more an external gadget than a direct upgrade to the Autobot leader.