Dr. Powell

Doctor Powell is a supporting antagonist of the 2018 science fiction film Bumblebee. He is a scientist who worked for Jack Burns and Sector 7.

He was portrayed by John Ortiz, who also portrayed Arturo Braga.

History
Following Bumblebee's crash-land to Earth in 1987, Powell was told of Bumblebee's presence by Burns before they meet up with two Decepticon spies named Shatter and Dropkick, who posed themselves as peacekeepers and told them that Bumblebee is a war criminal.

Deciding to take action, Powell lets Shatter and Dropkick enter into Sector 7's base so that they can use their intel and gain access to his satellites to pinpoint Bumblebee's location; he even convinced their superiors to utilize the new Cybertronian technology that Shatter and Dropkick for their own ambitions, despite Burns' objections.

After Bumblebee is captured and placed inside a warehouse for interrogation, Powell watches as Shatter and Dropkick torture Bumblebee for information. It wasn't until they learned that Bumblebee received a message from Autobot commander Optimus Prime that they're planning to make Earth their new refuge and protect it from Decepticons, otherwise they (along with the rest of the lifeforms on Earth) would be destroyed.

Upon witnessing the message and overhearing Shatter and Dropkick plotting to gather all Decepticon troops to Earth, Powell realized that he and Sector 7 made a horrible mistake. To that end, Powell flips his walkie-talkie on and warns Burns about the Decepticons' plot, telling him that they must stop the Decepticons at once. However, Shatter spots Powell warning Burns, so she gets Dropkick to kill Powell off with a single blast.

Personality
Despite not being a villain, Powell is very obsessed with the Cybertronian technology, as he was the first one to accept their plans. However, like Burns, he also misunderstood the consequences as he didn't expect the fact that Decepticons are deceitful and evil in nature, even warning Burns about Shatter and Dropkick's true plot before his death.

Trivia

 * Unlike Burns who has reservations in forming an alliance with the Decepticons, Powell does fully admire the Decepticons as he is very much obsessed with using their technology until the end.