After the 2018 movie Bumblebee was set in the 1980s, this summer's Transformers: Rise of the Beasts takes the robot action to the next decade, bringing back fan-favorites Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and more Autobots.

This time, though, they meet a "whole new faction of Transformer — the Maximals — to join them as allies in the existing battle for earth."

The human stars of the latest entry in the blockbuster franchise, directed by Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II), are Anthony Ramos and Swarm star Dominique Fishback.

Rise of the Beasts' voice cast features Michelle Yeoh, Pete Davidson, Peter Dinklage, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Ron Perlman as new character Optimus Primal.
Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura recently teased the star-studded vocal performances in an interview with Collider, saying Davidson "crushed the character" of Mirage, and Perlman and Yeoh are "the two that carry the body of the dialogue, and therefore they're the ones you're going to know the most about."

"Everybody always loves the villain, and Peter Dinklage is fun as Scourge. But I think there's always Optimus that people love, and Bumblebee love, but Mirage is a new character, and in this case, carries the relationship with the human. So it gives more talking," he said.

Bonaventura also shared how Michael Bay, returning as a producer, contributed to the movie. Bay previously directed five Transformers movies, starting with 2007's that starred Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox.

"Listen, he brought us to the promised land. So we're always appreciative of that. Michael comes in and helps us with certain aspects of this, [and it] is really helpful to have his eye because he has an intrinsic understanding of this world," he said.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is in theaters June 9.