Admittedly, this is not as cool as a trailer. And it certainly doesn't elicit the tingling sensation Megan Fox gives you when she fixes an engine or graces the cover of Esquire.

But it's apparently a first look, procured by MTV to promote this evening's MTV Movie Awards, and the thing looks legitimately bad ass (is that an Egyptian style headdress going on up in there?).

And it looks slightly different too, right? Shia LeBeouf explains:

Basically, the Fallen is to them what cavemen, Neanderthals were to us. He's the ancestor, the first version of this exoskeleton. He's the first version of this sentient being. That's what he is. He's the origins of what they came from.

He also says the Megatron answers to the fallen thanks to a sort of "Emperor and Darth Vader ... kind of situation."

So long as we're talking Emperor-Vader from the Return of the Jedi, and not that "Noooo!!!" abomination at the end of Revenge of the Sith, that sounds cool enough. [MTV via Film School Rejects]

Jason "Megatron" Burrows:

The mighty OPTIMUS PRIME is "OFFICIALLY" calling you out. If you are going to TAKE credit for bearing the name of my one true nemesis, then man up and take MEGATRON as your first and ONLY name. Otherwise, stop being a poser and come up with your OWN idea!

If you accept, we shall publically do battle to be recorded for the entire TRANSFANDOM!!!

"One shall stand, one shall fall!"

30-year-old Jason "Megatron" Burrows is a hulking man with a passion for coed softball. He spends his days behind a desk at CBS Radio, which may handicap him when the mayhem breaks loose.

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Then it was my turn... I walked to the front, where she had me raise my right hand to swear that I would tell the truth, whole truth & nothing but the truth. She asked if my name change was to defraud creditors, I said no. She asked if it would be detrimental to anyone else, I said no. She Then asked if I was indeed changing my middle name to that of my childhood hero, I smiled & said "Yes Ma'am." She said, "Then I do order & decree that your name be changed from Jason Michael Burrows to Jason Megatron Burrows" with a HUGE grin. There were quite a few chuckles from the courtroom... I was handed the paperwork & I split. =)

Now look at you.

The build quality is *excellent* and better than the Optimus Prime by Hasbro. I know, you've got batteries and sound effects now. (Still no Biew Biew Biew). And you've got some translucent under-wings that are spring-loaded and neon. And you have a chain-whip/grappling hook, secured to a spring-loaded three-pronged claw. But what's with all the ornate armor? Who redesigned you without asking any of the legions of Transformer fanboys?

You're all frilly. You call them spikes, but it looks like robot lace. And If you're way easier to transform, its because you don't really transform into anything but a frilly fake jet that observes zero laws of aerodynamics. Your wings look like wings on a paper airplane that I made in 3rd grade that crashed into Mrs. Pendleton's boob. Really, all you do to transform is fold out the wings on your back, flip your head up, and put giant spikes onto your arms. And your legs don't really transform into anything, they just sit underneath and back like a duck's while it squats on some eggs. Really. You look like a sissy gundam reject.

SPOILER: Autobots win in your new movie. Sorry, but what do you expect when a Red White and Blue 18-wheeler Cab goes head to head with a transformer that transforms into nothing? Prime is going to kick your ass.
Please go find your dignity and your bullets and turn back into the Megatron we all knew and feared would take over the Earth. – Brian Lam

RIP Die Cast Megatron

This one is the one for Megatron, the guy who turned into a gun and needed someone else to fire him—the most co-dependent robot this side of Bender.

Of course this kinda toy wouldn't fly in here and now. Any kid holding a gun, even if it is a toy that transforms into a robot, would be shot by cops about 57 times before he could say "more than meets the eye". – Jason Chen

Patent [Google via MAKE]