Poster
Hero Swap: Ben 10 (Starring Charlie Watson) is a live-action/computer-animated hybrid film that retells the events of the 2018 film Bumblebee, drawing key elements from lore of the Ben 10 franchise, in addition to that of the live-action Transformers film series.
Plot[]
Essentially the same as Bumblebee, but with major differences:
- Rather than attempting to escape Cybertron to establish a base on another planet, the Autobots are attempting to keep the Omnitrix safe from the Decepticons, who believe it can resuscitate their fallen leader Megatron.
- Bumblebee is a DNA sample within the Omnitrix.
- Instead of Bumblebee, the Omnitrix lands on Earth, attaching itself to Charlie's wrist when she unearths it behind Uncle Hank's garage.
- Hank had no idea what this pod contained, and had a "finders keepers" attitude towards it, gladly letting Charlie keep it as an 18th-birthday present.
- The Omnitrix retains its post-recalibration design in Alien Force rather than the pre-recalibration design, albeit with a yellow-and-black color scheme not dissimilar to Bumblebee.
- The battle against Blitzwing happens after Charlie obtains the Omnitrix and uses it to transform into Bumblebee.
- Memo plays a more significant role in this retelling to compensate for Bumblebee not always being present.
- He is also the first person to find out about the Omnitrix, which Charlie has tried to keep a secret but failed.
- Agent Burns and Charlie's late father were former Plumbers.
- After the death of the latter, Burns quit the Plumbers and joined Sector 7, holding a hostile attitude towards any species not native to Earth.
- Some scenes are added or changed to demonstrate the attributes of Charlie's alien forms.
- Not long after obtaining the Omnitrix, Charlie swings around Brighton Falls as Too Much Monkey Business (Spidermonkey).
- Charlie transforms into Don't Stop Me Now (XLR8) to rush her dog Conan to the vet.
- There's a new bowling scene featuring Charlie as You Spin Me Round (Cannonbolt).
- Charlie is sunbathing as I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Wildvine) before Memo invites her to the party at the cliff.
- At the party, she sprays everyone with water as Creedence Clearwater Revival (Water Hazard) to cool them off.
- The toilet paper prank is significantly different. First, Memo makes a failed attempt at covering the tree in toilet paper. Then, Charlie turns into Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment (Feedback) to try cutting the power off for Tina's home, but ends up doing so for the whole block instead. She then turns into Godzilla (Humungousaur) to cover Tina's car in eggs and smash it, and finally helps Memo escape as Don't Stop Me Now.
- Charlie destroys her own house while the Omnitrix randomly transforms her into different aliens, this power surge attracting the attention of Sector 7, Shatter, and Dropkick, causing her to be captured for interrogation.
- Charlie's brother Otis also finds out about the Omnitrix upon her capture and helps their parents rescue her without telling them the truth.
- The final battle plays out differently. First, Charlie (as GGST) quickly disposes of Dropkick and destroys Shatter's signal transmitter. Then, she turns into T. Rex to fight Shatter and open the dam, causing a ship to crash in Shatter's direction. Shatter defeats T. Rex by pulling her underwater with herself in an attempt to kill the both of them, but Charlie escapes by turning into Creedence Clearwater Revival.
- At the Golden Gate Bridge, Azmuth teleports to Charlie's location, introduces himself to her, and reveals that while he intended his creation to be for her father, lamenting that he sadly passed away long before it reached him. He adds on that he observed Charlie's usage of the Omnitrix through the device itself and she has proven herself to be a worthy wielder, unlocking more alien transformations and letting her keep it.
- Charlie returns home, revealing the Omnitrix to her parents, in which they comment that they knew all along. In addition, Charlie's identity is revealed to the world on every TV news station.
- In a post-credits scene, Optimus arrives on Earth and is astonished to see Charlie use the Omnitrix to transform into Bumblebee and much like Azmuth, he trusts her with the device and warns her of enemies that may come to try and forcefully take it from her.
Characters[]
Humans[]
- Charlie Watson
- Agent Burns
- Guillermo "Memo" Guiterrez
- Dr. Powell
- Otis Watson
- Sally Watson
- Ron
- Uncle Hank
- General Whalen
- Tina
- Tripp Summers
- Roy
- Amber
- Seymour Simmons
Autobots[]
- Optimus Prime
- Ironhide
- Ratchet
- Arcee
- Cliffjumper
- Wheeljack
- Brawn
- Teletraan-1
Decepticons[]
- Shatter
- Dropkick
- Blitzwing
- Shockwave
- Soundwave
- Starscream
- Skywarp
- Thundercracker
- Thrust
- Megatron (mentioned only)
Other[]
- Azmuth
Aliens Used[]
- Bumblebee (x3)
- Too Much Monkey Business (x2, second time was an accidental transformation)
- Don't Stop Me Now (x4, fourth time was an accidental transformation)
- You Spin Me Round
- I Heard It Through The Grapevine
- Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment (x2)
- Godzilla (x2)
- Diamonds Are Forever (accidental transformation)
- Yertle the Turtle (accidental transformation)
- Creedence Clearwater Revival
Fan Cast[]
| (Voice) Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Hailee Steinfeld | Charlie Watson Don't Stop Me Now Too Much Monkey Business Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment Creedence Clearwater Revival |
| John Cena | Agent Burns |
| Jorge Lendeborg Jr. | Guillermo "Memo" Guiterrez |
| John Ortiz | Dr. Powell |
| Jason Drucker | Otis Watson |
| Pamela Adlon | Sally Watson |
| Stephen Schneider | Ron |
| Len Cariou | Uncle Hank |
| Glynn Turman | General Whalen |
| Gracie Dzienny | Tina |
| Ricardo Hoyos | Tripp Summers |
| Lenny Jacobson | Roy |
| Megyn Price | Amber |
| Nick Pilla | Seymour Simmons |
| Allegra Clark | Let Me Roll It
Godzilla Diamonds Are Forever Yertle The Turtle |
| Peter Cullen | Optimus Prime |
| Ashley Johnson | Bumblebee |
| Erica Lindbeck | I Heard It Through The Grapevine |
| Angela Bassett | Shatter |
| Justin Theroux | Dropkick |
| David Sobolov | Blitzwing |
| Grey Griffin | Arcee |
| Steve Blum | Wheeljack |
| Andrew Morgado | Cliffjumper |
| Jon Bailey | Shockwave Soundwave |
| Kirk Baily | Brawn Skywarp |
| Dennis Singletary | Ratchet |
| Jeff Bennett | Azmuth |
Trivia[]
- The title is misleading, suggesting that it would be a retelling of the plot of the original Ben 10 television show.
- The added scene where Charlie swings around as Spidermonkey is intended to be an homage to Spider-Man.
- Charlie's aliens all have yellow eyes and yellow Omnitrix symbols.
- Bumblebee's Autobot insignia on his robot form and Volkswagen logo on his car form have both been replaced by Omnitrix symbols.
- Charlie seems to have more proficiency with the Omnitrix than Ben did at first, as she could quickly switch from one form to another simply by slapping the Omnitrix symbol, and did not have any mistransformations, bar the randomizer function.
- The Hero Swap prefix is taken from the web show of the same name by How It Should Have Ended.
- This universe is under the name "Earth-1987", referencing the year the events take place.
Possible sequel[]
With Azmuth unlocking more transformations for Charlie, Optimus' warning, and her secret being revealed, it could be safe to assume that a sequel in the form of either a film or a television series could follow.