Transformers: Megatron’s T-Rex Form Gets Massive Upgrade in Beast Wars

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Transformers: Beast Wars #12!

Megatron can somehow unleash a powerful cannon blast in beast mode in IDW Publishing’s Beast Wars comic. This was never possible in the original Transformers spin-off TV series.

The unexpectedly epic event transpires during a highly contentious faceoff between the two Predacon and Maximal leaders as both sides clash in a three-issue-long battle. The Maximal’s Optimus Primal is already in robot mode and can therefore utilize his Cybertronian weaponry by the time the Predacon’s Megatron appears in beast mode as a T-Rex. But the Predacon surprisingly decides to remain in his dinosaur form for the duration of their battle because he has a trick up his robotic sleeve, as revealed in issue #12 by writer Erik Burnham, art by Josh Burcham, and letterer Jake M. Wood.

How Megatron utilizes his beast form proves that he doesn’t need to switch into his robot mode to access his weaponry. The Megatron T-Rex opens his massive jaws, but not to bite. For inside is a canon that begins to charge up in a very visually dynamic way. But before the Predacon leader can unleash the attack, Optimus Primal jumps on the T-Rex’s jaws, causing the blast to explode in his skull. Before now, Transformers who initiated beast mode always had to trade their high-tech gadgetry for the characteristics of the animal that was attributed to them. Not only did they assume the form of their animal in this mode, but they were also covered with the creature’s natural organic material.

But IDW Publishing just retconned Megatron’s T-Rex beast mode to somehow incorporate a crucial characteristic of his robot form. While in robot mode, Megatron’s T-Rex head contains a powerful canon that erupts from the dinosaur’s gaping maw. But once he transformed, his skull was just a normal T-Rex skull. In other words, the cannon went away. But that’s no longer the case in IDW’s current Beast Wars comic series. This is an especially crucial development for the Maximals and evil Predacons currently marooned on the series’ strange planet because of the world’s rich Energon deposits. The Energon is so strong that Transformers can’t maintain their robot forms for long without overpowering their systems. Refusing to switch to beast mode eventually results in the robot’s destruction. This massive handicap always thwarts missions and complicates even the simplest operations on both sides. And if a Transformer is forced to initiate beast mode in the presence of the enemy in robot mode, the Cybertronian in beast form is always at an incredible disadvantage without any weapons and usually resorts to fleeing.

The fact that IDW’s latest rendition of Megatron has somehow identified a way to incorporate crucial aspects of his robot form while in beast mode puts him at a massive advantage. The time restriction that Transformers must contend with every time they enter robot mode to utilize their high-tech gadgetry now no longer applies to him. For he now has 24/7 access to his cannon. Unfortunately, this iteration of Megatron has its own time limit as IDW recently lost Transformers and Beast Wars publishing rights, forcing all corresponding series and spin-offs to end sometime in the summer. What other retcons will readers get to see before the series’ untimely demise?

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