There have been four “Transformers” movies since 2007 up to last year and all the films have three common denominators – Optimus Prime, the Autobots, and Michael Bay.
Now that Michael Bay has formally bid his farewell to the series, Jonathan Liebesman of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” fame is taking over the directorial job for “Transformers 5.”
Fans of the series are starting to get worried that Liebesman may not be up to the formidable task and the tremendous amount of blockbuster legacy that Michael Bay is putting on his shoulders. For most of them, they think that the “Transformers” series will never be the same again without Michael Bay.
However, what they failed to recognize are the two other common denominators in the past four films and these are Optimus Prime and the Autobots.
While Hollywood star power brings a distinct amount of audience pull to the past movies, there is no doubt that the centers of attraction of the films are Optimus Prime and the Autobots and their battles against Megatron and the Decepticons.
The highlights of the past four films have been the battle of the transformer robots and Shia LaBeouf and Mark Wahlberg were just integrated and meshed to the storylines and the scenes to add acting support and audience pull.
The stars have come and go during the seven-year run of the franchise in theaters but Optimus Prime and the Autobots remained and they are actually the biggest draw of the franchise.
And it is likely that they will continue to become the main fare of “Transformers 5” if Director Jonathan Liebesman simply stayed true to his mandate and not be overwhelmed by the huge directorial shoe he is filling in.
Returning cast members
From a 2016 release date, “Transformers 5” has been pushed to a 2017 playdate giving Jonathan Liebesman plenty of time to think things through and work with the writers to really come up with a good storyline for the next film in the series.
While there have been earlier reports that “Transformers 5” will be set in Cybertron as Optimus Prime and the Autobots battle their maker based on the last scenes from “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” the fact that Mark Walhberg has been confirmed for the movie only means that there will still be scenes of the movie on earth because it would be improbable to see the actor joining the transformer robots in Cybertron.
Unless Paramount Pictures comes out with a statement to confirm or deny these initial reports as regards the plot of “Transformers 5,” everything is speculation at this point.
There is also a report that Megan Fox will be back after missing “Transformers 3” and “Transformers 4” since she will be taken in by Liebesman who also directed her on “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” But until official word came from Paramount or Megan Fox herself, the report is a mere speculation too.