Transformers: Rise of the Beasts must avoid one big Airazor mistake to make the live-action version of her character in the upcoming movie much better. Initially voiced by Pauline Newstone, Airazor first appeared in the 1990s animated TV series called, Beast Wars: Transformers. Her ability to fly – as part of her alternate mode, a peregrine falcon – allowed her to be used primarily for reconnaissance and surveillance to aid the Maximals in their battle against the Predacons. Airazor was usually calm but confident with sharp eyes and accurate aiming, making her a tough opponent to counter.
In the second half of Beast Wars: Transformers’ In the first season, Airazor and Tigatron, another Maximal who turned into a mechanical tiger, often worked together despite Tigatron’s desire to go about things alone. Later, the two became fond of each other and developed a strong bond after nearly being killed several times. During their final mission to find the remaining missing stasis pods on prehistoric Earth, Airazor and Tigatron were kidnapped by the Vok, whose sole purpose was to destroy the Transformers and develop Earth to their own designs. After being shot into space, resulting in their deaths, both Tigatron and Airazor were kept in stasis form until the end of the Beast Wars. Their dead bodies were fused together in the season finale of Beast Wars: Transformers, and they became the Vok controlled super warrior known as Tigerhawk. However, this “upgrade” was not to the liking of fans of the animated series. It’s important that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts avoids this mistake and corrects Airazor’s character.
Why Airazor’s Tigerhawk upgrade wasn’t so much fun?
Tigerhawk appearance in the first season of Beast Wars was very short-lived, was killed off after only three episodes. This alone made it seem like the character was made more to support the action sequences in the first season finale, rather than having any real reasoning behind it. Tigerhawk’s character felt like wasted potential with not much room to grow, and for all the power this”super warriorthe public didn’t get to see much of it. Any resemblance to Airazor’s character didn’t seem to exist in Tigerhawk’s design, minus her memories and the falcon-like wings she had previously in Beast Wars: Transformers.
Although Tigerhawk shared the demeanor and mannerisms of both Airazor and Tigatron, he seemed more like an upgrade to Tigatron than Airazor. His voice was Tigatron dominant, which seemingly completely eliminated Airazor from the equation. It would have been more natural for the character to switch between voices and have a shared personality since they were merged. Also, the toy version of Tigerhawk looks a lot more masculine than feminine, again suggesting that the show wasn’t trying to resemble Airazor’s character as much in design as it did with Tigatron. If the characters of Airazor and Tigatron had stayed separate, their relationship – which developed quite well in season one – could have been explored more in the second season, but this didn’t happen.
Do the Autobots get upgrades in Rise of the Beasts?
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts seems to be bringing many iconic Autobots back to the big screen. Bumblebee and Optimus Prime return, but it looks like they’ll stick with their original ’80s design—a classic 1970s Chevrolet Camaro and a 1987 Freightliner FLA semi-truck—instead of getting an upgrade. Maximals Cheetor, Rhinox and Optimus Primal make their first live-action appearance, but not much is known about their design in the upcoming film. However, it would be interesting to make them appear more mechanical in live-action than in the animation, which practically depicted them as normal animals with voices. Wheeljack returns as a brown and white 1970s Volkswagen Type 2 bus that fits into more of the 1990s period in which the film is set. Mirage and Arcee do the same in Transformers: Rise of the Beastscoming in as a silver-blue Porsche 964 and a red-and-white Ducati 916 motorcycle, respectively.
Key release dates
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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
