Marvel Comics Once Killed Optimus Prime In the Weirdest Way Possible (2024)

If it's a continuity in the Transformers franchise, it's certain to have some version of Optimus Prime leading the good guys. Likewise, if Prime is alive and rolling out, he's typically destined to die some heroic death at some point in the story. This was the case going back as far as the two original continuities: the 1980s Transformers cartoon as well as the corresponding monthly title from Marvel Comics.

Whereas Prime's death in the former continuity is iconic and heart-wrenching, his initial demise in the Transformers Generation 1 comic book was almost laughable. The irony is that the "kiddier" cartoon continuity had a much better death for the Autobot leader, whereas the darker comic book was incredibly toyetic in how it handled Optimus Prime's death and return.

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Marvel Comics Killed Optimus Prime... In a Video Game

The untimely demise of Optimus Prime happened in The Transformers #24 (by Bob Budiansky and Don Perlin), releasing in September 1986. The Transformers: The Movie had come out in theaters the month before, so the mood was right to kill off Prime in the comics to match his legendary sacrifice in that story. In the issue, the Transformers become entangled with a programmer named Ethan Zachary, who's working on a device that the Decepticons want to steal for their own ends.

The battle begins to get out of hand, with Ethan offering the transforming robots an alternative: they can continue to wage their battle in Multi-World, a virtual reality video game. Soon, the combatants are whittled down to Optimus Prime and Megatron, though the latter has employed a cheat code that allows him to stay ahead of the curve. Despite this advantage, Prime is still able to defeat the Decepticon leader, though it means the loss of several computer-generated innocents.

After winning the game, Prime feels that he had cheated due to the unnecessary casualties, thereafter asking that Ethan destroy him instead of Megatron. The programmer obliges, with the Autobots losing their leader in a tumultuous explosion. The Decepticons win the day and take the device that they were after, while the Autobots mourn their commander, whose consciousness is uploaded to a data disk for future use.

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The Transformers Movie Had a Better Prime Death Than the Comics

This whole affair was rather ridiculous, and it feels almost like a parody of Optimus Prime's morals. There was no reason that he needed to die, let alone essentially commit suicide over the results of a video game. What makes things worse is that Megatron actually did cheat in the game, yet he's allowed to live. The likely reason for Prime's death was to coincide with plans for The Transformers: The Movie.

In the movie, Optimus and Megatron also had a battle to the death, but it wasn't in some video game. Their final fight was in Autobot City, which the Decepticons had invaded after killing a shuttle full of Autobots. Knowing that Megatron had to be stopped, no matter the cost, Prime plowed through his enemies to put down their commander once and for all. His own death was cemented after he saved the life of the young Hot Rod, and his spark later gave out in front of his surviving allies. The scene was incredibly heartbreaking, scarring a generation of children. Parents actually complained that their kids were legitimately saddened, and the outcry caused Hasbro and Sunbow to change their similar on killing Duke in the G.I. Joe movie.

His death in the comics was comparatively meaningless because of the circ*mstances. The fact that the writer introduced an "out" immediately afterward made the series feel more childish than the movie. It seemed like more of an extraneous toy commercial than of the actual cartoon continuity. The comic book series would later kill him again, only for Optimus to come back in the style of a then new Action Master toy. It seems that when it came to killing Prime, there was a lot less than met the eye with the Transformers comic book.