Rise Of The Beasts' Big Plot Device Has A Surprisingly Rich Transformers History

Contains spoilers for "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts"

If there's one thing audiences can be sure of when they start a "Transformers" film, its that they're about to watch big, nigh-indistinguishable robots with silly names spend two and a half hours trying to track down an arbitrary object with an even sillier name. "The Allspark;" "The Matrix of Leadership;" and "Transformium" — all words we would never have known if U.S. President Ronald Reagan hadn't grossly deregulated marketing for children.

"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" introduces yet another MacGuffin in the form of the "Transwarp Key" — a powerful transit device capable of sending the Autobots back to their home planet of Cybertron and bringing the planet-eater Unicron (Colman Domingo) to Earth. While longtime consumers of the "Transformers" film franchise likely accepted the key as nothing more than an obligatory plot device to be forgotten in future installments, "Rise of the Beasts" does deserve due credit for using their MacGuffin to introduce an important Cybertronian concept: Transwarp.

Transwarp is a huge aspect of "Transformers" lore, referring to the powerful and wildly unpredictable space between universes. Though the Transwarp Key in "Rise of the Beast" seemingly provides Unicron with fast space travel, it actually created a multiversal portal for him to pass through. Future "Transformers" films will likely continue to explore the concept of Trasnwarp, as its existence means more to the universe than an interdimensional key.

Though the Transwarp Key seems to be a device created specifically for "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts," it was almost certainly inspired by Transwarp Drives. This invention is exactly what it sounds like: an engine for a spacecraft that allows it to travel through Transwarp, essentially being the "Transformers" equivalent of the "Star Wars" Hyperdrive. These drives are powered by Transwarp Cells, powerful batteries that – like a surprising amount of Cybertronian inventions — are powered by harnessing the energy of the dimension between dimensions.

While "Rise of the Beats" is the first "Transformers" film to feature the concept of Transwarp so centrally, it technically existed within the continuity of Michael Bay's original films. Various comics meant to tie into early "Bayverse" entries, such as "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," show that Transwarp energy was used to power spacecraft known as Sarcophagi and weapons like the Foldspace Warhead. In this continuity, it is said that the Primes were the first beings to discover Transwarp.

It's a bit early to tell where the future of the "Transformers" film franchise is headed — and that surprise "G.I. Joe" crossover certainly doesn't make their trajectory any simpler. That said, the interdimensional concept of Transwarp could finally get "Transformers" in on the Hollywood multiversal gold rush just before it collapses in on itself like a dying, nostalgia-burning star. However such a creative decision may make one feel, it can at least be said that the idea came from one of the most integral pieces of "Transformers" lore.