Alan Tudyk previously played the character Dutch in the movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011).
The town name of "Witwicky" is a reference to the last name of a family of human characters that have bonded with the Transformers over the years, starting with the first iterations of the franchise in animation and comic books and having a lasting impact carrying all the way to the first three live-action movies from 2007 to 2011.
The series takes place in an alternate timeline of the G1 Transformers universe in which the Autobot and Decepticon conflict ended and Megatron joined with the Autobots after realizing his mistakes. In the first episode, various flashbacks show characters, scenes and iconic quotes from the original The Transformers (1984) and The Transformers: The Movie (1986), done in a classic 2D art style. These characters later appear in the series as well, in updated 3D designs. Other elements of Transformers lore are also added to the backstory, such as the AllSpark cube introduced in Transformers (2007). Throughout the show, Transformers comics are also seen, which take inspiration from the classic G1 Marvel comics.
The third Transformers show to have Steve Blum voice Starscream, after Transformers Prime (2010) and Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2014).
The show flips the genders of certain classic characters to even out the gender ratios of the cast. Skywarp and Frenzy, both traditionally males, are females in this series. Instead of being paired with the male Thundercracker, Skywarp's partner in crime is another female Seeker, Nova Storm.