Who is Optimus Primal in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?

In Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the Maximals join the Autobots in their fight against the Terrorcons. One of the Maximals in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is Optimus Primal.

So, who is Optimus Primal in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts? And is Optimus Primal the same as Optimus Prime?

Optimus Primal is the leader of the Maximals. But what else is there to know about Optimus Primal? Here’s what we know about the leader of the Maximals.

Optimus Primal in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Explained

Credit: Paramount Pictures

Optimus Primal is the leader of the Maximals, an advanced race of beast-robots that are descended from the Autobots. Primal was named after Optimus Prime, and the two are different from each other.

Maximals transform into animals, and Primal transforms into a 13-foot-tall mechanical gorilla. His character's form is based on unused concept art from Transformers: The Last Knight (2017).

According to director Steven Caple Jr., Optimus Primal is "the beating heart to the Maximals. If you look at what Prime is to the Autobots, he's that to the Maximals. He's older by design but has wisdom that goes beyond us. He takes care of his own."

Optimus Primal, along with the rest of the Maximals, took an oath to protect the universe. They fight alongside the Autobots in the battle against the Terrorcons.

Optimus Primal is voiced by Ron Perlman, who also voiced another version of the character in the animated web series, Transformers: Power of the Primes.

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Warning: This portion contains spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Read at your own risk!

What Happened to Optimus Primal in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?

Credit: Paramount Pictures

In Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, when Optimus Primal meets Optimus Prime, he shares that he was named after the latter. He also says that it’s an honor to meet Prime.

Additionally, Optimus Primal is friends with the humans, something that surprises Optimus Prime. It is revealed that the Maximals split the Transwarp Key into two and that Primal asked a tribe in Peru to hide the Key for them.

Primal tells Prime that he knows the latter has questions as to why he entrusted the other part of the Key to the humans. Primal then says there’s “more to them than meets the eye” and that the humans are worth saving.

Later on, Primal is forced to kill the Maximal Airazor after the latter gets corrupted by the leader of the Terrorcons, Scourge.

Thankfully, Optimus Primal doesn’t die in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. In fact, when Prime and Noah almost get sucked into the portal, it’s Primal who saves both of them.

“Arrival to Earth” then starts playing, and later on, Primal says that Unicron is “trapped, but not dead.”

Prime then gives his “I am Optimus Prime” speech and says that together, they may have a chance in the battle against evil.

So, with the Maximals, Autobots, and humans working together, they have a chance against the planet-eating dark god Unicron.

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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now playing in theaters.