Editing Transformers: Collision Course

{{disambig2|the cancelled mini-series|the ''Power of the Primes'' episode|Collision Course}}
[[File:TransformersCollisionCourse-multiverse.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Graggle Simpson of IDW.]]

'''''Transformers: Collision Course''''' is an unpublished miniseries from [[IDW Publishing]] that would've brought together characters from across the ''Transformers'' [[multiverse]].

==Overview==
Little is known about the plot of ''Collision Course'': as the miniseries would've seen release in 2022, the final year of IDW's tenure on the ''Transformers'' license, it would presumably have acted as a capstone to seventeen years of IDW's ''Transformers'' storytelling, crossing over characters from IDW's various comic series.

Planned for four issues, the main story would have been written by [[John Barber]]. Issues #2-3 would have comprised of two stories each, set in specific continuities:<ref name=TFN2025>{{citesocial|name=Simon Furman|site=TFNation 2025|title=Speculation|year=2025|month=08|day=09}}</ref>
* [[Simon Furman]] would have written a story about ''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One|Regeneration One]]'' [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity#Regeneration One|Starscream]]<ref name=TFN2025 />
* [[Tom Scioli]] would have developed ideas from ''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'', and has shared some tantalizing sketches for [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] entering an "[[Energon]] Universe"<ref>{{citesocial|quote=The Energon Universe from The Unfinished #Transformers Crossover https://t.co/zOjOmZKFIN|link=https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761511688495107|name=Tom Scioli|site=Twitter|year=2022|month=10|day=19|(defunct=)}}</ref> and [[Megatron (G1)#Transformers vs. G.I. Joe|Megatron]] following his banishment to [[Equestria|Dream Valley]]<ref>{{citesocial|quote=Megatron Design from the Unfinished Transformers Crossover https://t.co/TtjDRDWg1I|link=https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761303755882496|name=Tom Scioli|site=Twitter|year=2022|month=10|day=19|(defunct=)}}</ref>
* [[James Roberts]] considered following up on the duplicate ''[[Lost Light]]'' from the [[How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2|final issue]] of his ''[[The Transformers: Lost Light|Lost Light]]'' series<ref>James Roberts at TFcon 2023</ref>
* [[Brian Ruckley]] has not shared details of his plans, but would presumably have followed up on the premature ending to his run on IDW's [[2019]] ''[[Transformers (2019 comic)|Transformers]]'' reboot

Writer [[Nick Roche]] was apparently involved in some capacity, but with his work on ''[[Transformers: Last Bot Standing|Last Bot Standing]]'' (which would ultimately stand alone as IDW's send-off to the franchise) he apparently wasn't going to have any scripting duties. These authors all took part in a video conference call where they brainstormed ideas for the series.<ref>{{citesocial|link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2n-FbzFolE|name=various writers|site=TFNation 2022|title=Making the Ideas and Dreams Work|year=2022|month=08|day=13}}</ref>

The only other glimpses we've received of this series take the form of various covers, produced in advance as is typical of comics production:
* [[Alex Milne]] depicted dozens of characters from the universes mentioned above, alongside various familiar faces from the original [[The Transformers (cartoon)|''Transformers'' cartoon]], ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]]'', the [[Aligned continuity family|"Aligned" continuity]], the ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]]'' [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|cartoon]], [[Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers|its anime spinoffs]], and [[Transformers: Beast Wars|IDW's 2021 comic reboot]], plus a few oddball miniseries like ''[[Transformers vs. The Terminator]]'', ''[[Hearts of Steel]]'', ''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'', and even ''Last Bot Standing''
* [[Guido Guidi]] depicted characters explicitly identified as "''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|Armada]]'' [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]]" and "''Regeneration One'' [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity#Regeneration One|Starscream]],"<ref>''[[Transformers: Best of the Rarities]]''</ref> 
* [[Andrew Wildman]] depicted [[Megatron (BW)|''Beast Wars'' Megatron]] battling [[Grimlock (G1)|"Generation 1" Grimlock]]<ref>Andrew Wildman panel at TFcon 2022</ref>
* [[Joana Lafuente]] depicted ''Regeneration One'' Starscream reaching for a [[Cybertronian remembrance flower|Cybertronian flower]]<ref>{{citesocial|quote=Here it is, my last cover for the Transformers while in IDW Publishing's hands. This was one the covers for the unpublished series "Transformers: Collision Course" and I promptly jumped at the opportunity to finally do a Starscream cover (Regen One version). [alt] Transformer's Starscream reaching for a cybertronian/necrobot blue flower while the Universe collapses behind him.|link=https://twitter.com/JoanaLafuente/status/1599924114768031744|name=Joana Lafuente|site=Twitter|year=2022|month=12|day=05|(defunct=)}}</ref>

''Collision Course'' was cut ''very'' late in production, enough so that artists had already completed these covers. As late as January 2022, an article reporting on IDW's impending loss of the ''Transformers'' license noted that the company had two "event" miniseries set for release after the end of their ongoing ''Transformers'' comic<ref>{{citesocial|quote=The monthly Transformers series will wrap up by mid-summer, while the Transformers: Beast Wars series will come to its conclusion this summer, too. That will lead to two new miniseries events.|link=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/idw-losing-g-i-joe-transformers-license-1235078466/|name=Borys Kit|site=The Hollywood Reporter|title=IDW to Lose ‘G.I. Joe,’ ‘Transformers’ License at End of 2022 (Exclusive)|year=2022|month=01|day=22}}</ref>—it's unclear whether this refers to ''Last Bot Standing'', ''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass II]]'', or possibly ''Collision Course'', although ''Last Bot Standing'' is a largely self-contained story ostensibly divorced from any other part of the ''Transformers'' multiverse. That same month, a letters page in ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars|Beast Wars]]'' [[Maximals Strike Back, Part 3|#12]] teased the possibility of a "crossover event" when asked about a potential crossover between the cast of ''Beast Wars'' and IDW's 2019 ''Transformers'' reboot.<ref>"You never know... we may be seeing the Maximals and Predacons in a crossover event in the near future..."</ref>

The reasons behind ''Collision Course's'' cancellation remain unclear—with only months left on the ''Transformers'' license, it may have come down to time concerns, or simply a desire to have both ''Transformers'' and ''Beast Wars'' end on an organic note instead of contriving a crossover scenario. Alternately, it's possible that IDW chose to market ''Last Bot Standing'', written with the intent of acting as the "final ''Transformers'' story", as a more subdued response to the end of IDW's ''Transformers'' mythos.

==Notes==
* When IDW first obtained the ''Transformers'' license in [[2005]], [[Simon Furman]] originally proposed a multiverse crossover story that would've brought together the casts of both ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)|Cybertron]]'' and [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]], although IDW turned down his pitch.<ref>''Transformers, a New Direction'', Simon Furman's Transformers proposal printed in [[The Transformers: The Best of Simon Furman|The Best of Simon Furman]]</ref> It's only fitting that what would've been the ''last'' IDW book met the same fate...

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:IDW titles]]
[[Category:Things that don't exist]]
[[Category:Unproduced scripts]]