The marketing machine over at Paramount is in full swing for the latest film in the TRANSFORMERS series from Michael Bay. They’ve slowly been rolling out characters, posters, videos, and the works from the upcoming action flick. 

This next reveal comes in the form of Hot Rod, the Autobot leader from the 1986 animated film who takes charge as Rodimus Prime after Optimus Prime’s and Ultra Magnus’ deaths.

Even more interesting is the accompanying comment to the photo, which reads: “Hot Rod: This is no cartoon.” Is this supposed to be as foreboding as it sounds?

Take a look at the reveal below!

So here comes the big question, I suppose: what does this mean for Optimus Prime? I won’t pretend that Bay has treated the source material with any real reverence, but it is strange they’d introduce Hot Rod at this point in the game. We do know that Paramount createda writer’s room for the TRANSFORMERS franchise, and one has to wonder if this would lead to some serious progression in the overall plot line. Is it possible that Optimus Prime is doomed this time around and that Hot Rod will take on the Prime mantle? We’ll have to wait and see.

TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT hits theaters on June 23, 2017.

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SOURCE: TRANSFORMERS on Twitter