TF4: Last Transformers Film for Bay, Will Feature Character Redesigns and Entirely New Cast

WHOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Let there be new designs! and Michael will be banished forever!

For those of you who prefer the films Michael's way, I apologize

I wonder if that's "some redesign" like we've seen in the last movies... or something drastic for the entire line. Honestly, I'd love for them to stick with the general aesthetic and designs as much as possible... so I can skip this line, too... and stick with Classics, FOC, Masterpiece, Japan PowerCore, etc.

THANK PRIMUS! Well thats what id like to say but since we all know bay lies on a constant basis none of this can be taken as true until it actual happens. Plus redesign can mean anything, it could be what we got when the first movie came out or the small stuff that was done in DOTM. As for the cast im happy and a little upset, yes its great labouf is gone but there were a lot of well casted parts that are just going to be thrown away for nothing, mainly all the nest guys and a few of the bots. I just hope after this one they take a long break and just focus on the shows and games.

I'd quite the 4th film to centre on a different bunch of bots, maybe a different struggle somewhere isolated on earth - some unhinhabited islands. Separate to Prime and pals. Maybe bringing them all together for any future films.

Now that Megatron is dead who will be the big bad? Maybe Unicron could park up somewhere in the Sol system and bots and humans need to figure out a way to shoo him away.

Yeah, I'd love for them to just wait a bit and reboot. Maybe do a respectful movie adhering to the G1 tv show and comic — like the Avengers, etc. have done. There's just so many arbitrary and willy-nilly choices for the Bay movies. Design sources from every toy franchise on the market. It just dilutes it all until it comes across like every generic action movie from the Matrix to Battleship. None of it feels very transformery outside of Peter Cullen's voice. If that were gone, I wouldn't have bought any of the movies.

Considering all the death threats, I would probably be tired by now too. Maybe it's a good thing that we'll get a change no matter what side you're on. I just hope the "redesigns" aren't so radical that they would look strange with the current designs. I don't mind a new cast at all, but the actors' portrayals are yet to be seen. As long as it ties in with the current continuity I'm fine with it.

I would actually laugh if Bay changed his mind to do a fifth movie, because the reactions would be hilarious.

Except for the new cast bit, didn't he say the exact same thing for DotM?

All things considered, I'm not sure if the market could stand ANOTHER wave of 25 more virtually identical Bumblebees. What's the count after all three movies? Anyone religiously buying those things and keeping count?

Too be honest I really didn't mind the Michael Bay films. They were what they were, mindless robotic action. I think that it is time for Bay to move on and let someone else handle the movie franchise. What would be a neat idea, make a complete CGI film, no live action at all. That way nearly everybody wins.

The AlmightyOrange.

AMEN to that! Wasting 3/4 of the film on human characters misses the mark to me. Any humans should be like a sprinkle of paprika on the bowl of Transformers chili. The characters are so rich, interesting, cool, bad@$$, backstabbing... and a couple are downright relatable and cute like ole talking Bumblebee. I'd love a fully CGI, minimized human character franchise. Goodness knows they aren't selling a line of little cute human toys, right?

gothsaurus wrote:All things considered, I'm not sure if the market could stand ANOTHER wave of 25 more virtually identical Bumblebees. What's the count after all three movies? Anyone religiously buying those things and keeping count?

Surely there is someone, somewhere who has nothing but every single Bumblebee there has ever been. And whoever they are God bless them. As for who the main villain might be. I wouldn't be surprised if its someone like Onslaught or a character who's never held a true leadership role over all Decepticons.

Glad to hear he won't be directing another one. Come on Bay, we'll let you have this one last Hoorah as long as you make it good! Give us character, not just one-liners, tone down all the military "action-man" crap, give us the Transformers how it should be!

By new designs I hope they make them simpler and more solid. Not necessarily G1 block style, but just so we can comprehend what's going on and there aren't million of pieces of robot flying off left right and centre like they're all made of glass or something. Simpler designs would be less expensive to animate and therefore the characters can have more screen time and some actual dialogue with one and other.

Anyway here's just wishful thinking for now...

gothsaurus wrote:I wonder if that's "some redesign" like we've seen in the last movies... or something drastic for the entire line. Honestly, I'd love for them to stick with the general aesthetic and designs as much as possible... so I can skip this line, too... and stick with Classics, FOC, Masterpiece, Japan PowerCore, etc.

What he said. Except for the Japan PowerCore and FoC anyway. Seems odd Bay starting a new chapter in the Transformers movies and then handing it off to someone else.

Hmm. on the villain notion, another hard hitter we haven't seen yet is Galvatron. I'm putting my money there. Sadly, while it would be amazing to see in 'live action'... getting a Unicron storyline would be kind-of an anticlimax to me. Not sure why.

Any other big baddies from the past you guys could throw into the hat?

Sandy-Prime wrote:Glad to hear he won't be directing another one. Come on Bay, we'll let you have this one last Hoorah as long as you make it good! Give us character, not just one-liners, tone down all the military "action-man" crap, give us the Transformers how it should be!

That's something you should be telling the writer(s) not the guy who takes the script and works with the bulk of it.

I think most of us here are just venting. Not hoping or expecting any action to be taken.... ie. I don't think Bay — or any of the movie crew — are listening to the fans at this point... or up at night crying and fretting over what people are saying on the threads.

As for me, I'm just here to hear a couple guys answer back... "yeah, that was pretty far off from my childhood memories, or what I'd have wanted out of a TF movie." Hearing that helps ME sleep at night. Ha.

But again, for a general robot, blow-em-up, explosions, action movie.... fantastic movies!!!... but looking at it all with ANY hindsight of the past 25 years, they're missing the mark.

Has anyone considered that "Completely new cast" means new Transformers as well? Think about it: Peter Cullen and Frank Welker were cast as well.

This may be going to the 1986 movie and FLIPPING KILL OPTIMUS and bring in Rodimus and friends while making Unicron a cloud. (Cookies to those who know that reference)

Hm. A new cast... Perhaps Daniel Witwicky? Hanging out with the even MORE annoying Wheelie?

AIGH! Don't give them any ideas!!! LOL. Wheelie goes back in time to hang out with G1 Wheelie! Yeah!

I wish someone would make a Transformers Prime movie. Transformers in my opinion should be presented in an animated format. That way, they will always be able to appeal to a distinct demographic (kids) and we the collectors can furthur benefit from even more figures. I only have a handful of the movieverse figures. They just don't compare to the other lines.

Also, I appreciate what the movies did for the longevity of our favorite robots, but the characters or more fleshed out in the cartoons.

With all that said, I will be a hypocrite as I will watch this upcoming film as well as purchasing the Blu-Ray.

Is Bay's vision so universally loved and integral to the success of Transformers that he has to "set it up for the next guy"? Couldn't they just hire a good director who'll set things up fine on his own?

edit: since we're speculating villains, they could use Thunderwing, or Bludgeon (honestly, as silly as he is, Bludgeon would make as much sense as anything in the films so far, and possibly be pretty cool) or maybe Scorponok has been training like Rocky since the first film and gonna come back all badass?

Yeah, I have to say... while I know there were scads of little kids scrambling for those movie toys... I can count on my fingers the ones I bought... from ALL THREE films. Deliberate purchases from the Hasbro main line include Prime and Arcee... (because they somehow convinced me she's somehow a female, in spite of the toy giving no indications of such. They could have called her a MerMan and the toy would have been as on-target.)

I was sure I'd picked up some other Hasbro movie bots, but looking through the list, I know I skipped Megs, Ironhide, Barricade, Ratchet... and only wound up with a Bumblebee because of that multi-pack with three different 'generations' of Bumblebee.

I think bottom line, less screen time and character development — Jazz and Wheeljack come to mind — just don't leave you connected to the characters, and ultimately THAT is what makes me go to the store and buy them. Likable, developed, epic, personable, human, distinct characters... with bios, strengths, weaknesses, traits.....

Okay, that and great designs What about you guys. How much do the characters personalities and voices come into play for your jumping in and buying an entire line? Or is it just the toys and gimmicks?

Couple of things..

1.-Having a new cast can mean Tf or humans for all we know. I'm open to both.

2.-I'm going to laugh my ass off if Bay does a complete 180, does a complete change around with characters and there screen time and gives the fans everything they've ever wanted in a TF film,...
And then the next guy completely ruins it for the "fans" and everyone now see's just how bad it really can get.

#Sideways# wrote:This may be going to the 1986 movie and FLIPPING KILL OPTIMUS and bring in Rodimus and friends while making Unicron a cloud. (Cookies to those who know that reference)

Why the smurf would Unicron be a cloud?

"...redesign of the robots..."

Does this mean the new toys will be even SMALLER than the Dark of the Moon toys? LOL, I could not resist...

I don't mind if the original human cast goes bye-bye, but I would like to see the core group of Autobot remain the same. I am not sure what Decepticon characters will face the Autobots, as there I believe there were no Decepticons left after Dark of the Moon.

I would LOVE to see part of the movie shot on Cybetron, as well as the Dinobots. And most importantly, there should be LESS emphasis on human characters, and MORE emphasis on the Transformers.

@#Sideways#
I know what you mean about the cloud. Bringing in Rodimus and Co. would be an interesting idea.

@#Sideways#
I know what you mean about the cloud. Bringing in Rodimus and Co. would be an interesting idea.

orangeitis wrote:Why the smurf would Unicron be a cloud?

It happened to a certain other planet eater:

He got a lot on his plate with ruining Turtles and whatever else luckless beloved toy line crosses his path.

Doesn't matter who is at the helm, this is going to suck giant Dinobot bearings! Nothing any director could do at this point could possibly match or improve upon what the franchise was left with and making the attempt will just be a mess. They need to walk away from it like I've said a thousand times already. They are going to screw up a good thing over simple greed and f*** the fans right up the exhaust pipe in the process.

T-Macksimus wrote:Doesn't matter who is at the helm, this is going to suck giant Dinobot bearings! Nothing any director could do at this point could possibly match or improve upon what the franchise was left with and making the attempt will just be a mess. They need to walk away from it like I've said a thousand times already. They are going to screw up a good thing over simple greed and f*** the fans right up the exhaust pipe in the process.

But as a fan I enjoyed them, despite their flaws, why would they be doing dirty things to my exhaust pipe?

If and when they do another movie, maybe they could bring in some other characters to royally botch up... maybe a Grimlock with a country accent, and some gangsta talking insecticons with lots of tentacles... and a really punk, sass talking "I'm not gonna do what you say, dad" Hot Rod who somehow over the course of the film grows up and gains the respect of Optimus Prime.

Yeah, so when this happens... just saying, you heard it here first. Called it.

How many times did he say it's his last?

If memory serves, Bay said something to the effect of
RotF: "I'm making a third, but I'll be taking a little break so I can do some personal projects."
DotM: "This is my last one, I have some personal projects to get to." *kills all the Decepticons to underline his point*
TF4: "This is really my last one. Really."

gothsaurus wrote:If and when they do another movie, maybe they could bring in some other characters to royally botch up... maybe a Grimlock with a country accent, and some gangsta talking insecticons with lots of tentacles... and a really punk, sass talking "I'm not gonna do what you say, dad" Hot Rod who somehow over the course of the film grows up and gains the respect of Optimus Prime.

Yeah, so when this happens... just saying, you heard it here first. Called it.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, character development? In a Michael Bay movie?!

I'm all for another one. Too bad most of my favorite characters are dead though.

Burn wrote:

T-Macksimus wrote:Doesn't matter who is at the helm, this is going to suck giant Dinobot bearings! Nothing any director could do at this point could possibly match or improve upon what the franchise was left with and making the attempt will just be a mess. They need to walk away from it like I've said a thousand times already. They are going to screw up a good thing over simple greed and f*** the fans right up the exhaust pipe in the process.

But as a fan I enjoyed them, despite their flaws, why would they be doing dirty things to my exhaust pipe?

Obviously you're not a true fan, so your opinion doesn't count as anything.

I don't know what we'd do without Burn. We wouldn't have anyone to effectively use logic.

The more I think about the first 3 movies.

The more it makes sense that Bay really should have put his ego aside and just went in as a producer along with Spielberg of a live action tv show with the same cast say on HBO or another premium network with other directors filling the shoes for the show.

I mean...they could have probably pulled it off with reasonable effects.

- Season 1 roughly being 6-10 episodes about the Bots arrival to earth, finding Megatron
- Season 2 being about the Fallens' arrival, Megatrons subsequent resurrection
- Season 3 could have been about Cybertron/Sentinel and the eventual Chicago war in the finale

At the very least. If the 3 movies were stretched out into a tv show. There would have been more time to develop the saga and the time spent on Sam/Mikeala/Government wouldn't have been as taxing as it was on the movies.

That

Or Bay could surprise everyone and make a different 4th movie that probably won't satisfy the masses in return revenue but in turn might end up being a better movie in comparison to 86 or even the balanced 07 movie IMO.

I would love to see more movies.
I wonder if ti will be changes like what happened to Optimus and Bumblebee in TF3 or if they are change everyone completely.I just hope they dont change too much,because they have some very cool designs and would be sad to forget them.

As long as the designs aren't too drastically different and Peter Cullen is still Optimus I'll be happy.

ReDPATH wrote:The more I think about the first 3 movies.

The more it makes sense that Bay really should have put his ego aside and just went in as a producer along with Spielberg of a live action tv show with the same cast say on HBO or another premium network with other directors filling the shoes for the show.

I mean...they could have probably pulled it off with reasonable effects.

- Season 1 roughly being 6-10 episodes about the Bots arrival to earth, finding Megatron
- Season 2 being about the Fallens' arrival, Megatrons subsequent resurrection
- Season 3 could have been about Cybertron/Sentinel and the eventual Chicago war in the finale

At the very least. If the 3 movies were stretched out into a tv show. There would have been more time to develop the saga and the time spent on Sam/Mikeala/Government wouldn't have been as taxing as it was on the movies.

That

Or Bay could surprise everyone and make a different 4th movie that probably won't satisfy the masses in return revenue but in turn might end up being a better movie in comparison to 86 or even the balanced 07 movie IMO.

I was just thinking this as I was watching DOTM a few minutes ago! It would have been a cool idea to make the movies into a live action TV show.

Yeah, Cullen needs to stay on team... and I'd actually LOVE it if they brought on Welker as well. They have a great banter. Sounds epic together. They're both legends.

Like I've said before, the movies were so different, I wouldn't have watched OR bought them if Cullen weren't voicing Prime. If he isn't asked back, deal me out.

I will sum up my reactions via bullet points and emotes:

Bay leaving: *

Redesigns:

New Cast:


*Note: He said this last time, so I'm taking it with an atom of salt at this point.

It would be nice if TF 4 would be in an Aligned universe.

I though to bring this topic again after reading an interresting though.
I was seeing the official Michael bay Forums and one of the user asked what Michael and Spielberg meant by change of direction and the awnser was an interresting comparssion.
They compared the Harry Potter movies change of direction,mostly between the second and third movies.I though i really was a good example of diferent feel of the same universe,the way characters dress,the soundtrack,the color pallete.

Thoughs?

TulioDude wrote:I though to bring this topic again after reading an interresting though.
I was seeing the official Michael bay Forums and one of the user asked what Michael and Spielberg meant by change of direction and the awnser was an interresting comparssion.
They compared the Harry Potter movies change of direction,mostly between the second and third movies.I though i really was a good example of diferent feel of the same universe,the way characters dress,the soundtrack,the color pallete.

Thoughs?

I have no idea, since I never wasted my time with any of those movies, but it sounds like it could be a good idea. Just so long as we get the same amount of explosions (if not, more) as the last three. That would be good.

The thing I'm thinking of would the the Batman Animated Series where at some point the whole freaking art direction changed. I'm not sure why, all I know is that it did and things got a bit different. That's what I'm thinking TF4 is starting to sound like.

#Sideways# wrote:Has anyone considered that "Completely new cast" means new Transformers as well? Think about it: Peter Cullen and Frank Welker were cast as well.

This may be going to the 1986 movie and FLIPPING KILL OPTIMUS and bring in Rodimus and friends while making Unicron a cloud. (Cookies to those who know that reference)

Hm. A new cast... Perhaps Daniel Witwicky? Hanging out with the even MORE annoying Wheelie?

With Unicron, you're referring to what they did to Galactus in Fantastic Four 2.
(i know, i'm late)

I hope there's as few humans as possible in this next transformers. No more sitcom bs, Sam goin to college, gettin a job etc.

Yay! No more faces stolen by Prime, decepticon deaths, and no more grey transformers! I'm so happy I could explode! Not literally.

Woo hoo!

This does sound great. When I heard it was Bay, I was not going to hold my breath, but that's great about the characters, they should look like the G1 ones, I mean Prime does - with mouthplate of course! So hoping Megatron and Starscream make a comeback and look like their old selves instead of those godawful chunk-a-bots. I heard Bay was worried about them looking chunky - then he goes and makes Megs & Screamers higeously chunky & FUGLY!!! ... (Shakes head)

Let's hope the characters HAVE character (both Bots & Cons) and the voices are right as well - And more focus on the Transformers as the original show did, not so much on the humans. It's called TRANSFORMERS after all... And let's also hope the Decepticons are also given their proper colour schemes and their G1 faces, not a bunch of monotonous Terminator rip offs and the audience is given an intelligent storyline. Let's hope it really IS More than Meets the Eye!

i'm praying for the best, but I'm not going to hold my breath. I think they are gonna delve more into the beast modes, and if we're lucky, Dinobots.