Paramount Pictures has announced (via Toonado.com) that the first trailer for Transformers One will debut like no movie trailer ever has before: in outer space. 

This long-awaited origin story of how the most iconic characters in the Transformers universe, Orion Pax and D-16, went from brothers-in-arms to sworn enemies, Optimus Prime and Megatron, will debut its trailer on Thursday, April 18. The launch begins at 6am PT with a live-streamed countdown showing the journey into space.

One hour later, the craft will reach its peak at 125,000 feet above the Earth, revealing the trailer with a custom introduction video from Transformers One‘s stars: Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry.

The event will be streamed from the Transformers social accounts, the Paramount Pictures YouTube channel, and co-streamed by Chris Hemsworth on Instagram. Needless to say, it’s a clever way to hype up the animated prequel. 

There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the movie, but the studio’s decision to replace longtime Transformers voiceover actors with on-camera actors has caused a certain level of uneasiness among fans. 

However, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has had nothing but good things to say about Hemsworth’s approach to playing Optimus Prime, confirming there will be a logical connection between his performance and Peter Cullen’s.

“When we first listen to Chris Hemsworth’s voice, you’re like, ‘God, is he gonna be a good Optimus!'” the producer exclaimed. “Obviously, he starts as Orion Pax and you don’t become Optimus for a while, so he’s not playing, for most of the movie, what we think of as Optimus, Peter Cullen.”

“So it’s that transition, and Chris’s voice has a timbre that…it’s logical that Peter Cullen would take over that voice, if you would, which is really great, the fans are gonna really feel great.”

Toy Story 4‘s Josh Cooley is directing the film from a screenplay by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari. Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg is executive producing Transformers One alongside Brian Goldner, Brian Oliver, Bradley J. Fischer, and Valerii An. 

Keegan-Michael Key plasy B-127. Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm round out the impressive cast. 

Transformers One is set to be released in theaters on September 13, 2024. You can watch Hemsworth and Henry’s announcement below: