This is a talk I gave about the Transformers–specifically the versions in the 2023 Daniel Warren Johnson Transformers comic from Image and the 2024 Transformers One movie–and environmental justice.
I am interested in how these two Transformers settings talk about the relationship between the Transformers and their need for Energon. The comic and the movie set up quite different situations in so far as Energon is concerned. They both build morally grey, subtle distinctions between different characters’ motivations and desires, and what they are willing to do to get Energon. In particular, what are they willing to do to each other, or humans, or the environment.
For instance, in the Transformers comic, the Autobots and Decepticons have their standard difference in ethics, but some of the Autobots, such as Beachcomber and Elita-One, have quite different takes than the standard Autobot line, and Shockwave, Thundercracker, and Astrotrain have varying levels of empathy and different rationalizations for their actions.
Meanwhile in Transformers One, there are interesting questions about what is “natural,” in both actions and materials, connected to the Transformers and the Quintessons.
Chris Wildrick 