Exclusive scoop: Story & character details for Transformers: The Last Knight

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Now, since we’ve gotten the title reveal there’s been plenty of speculation to go around in terms of what the story for the fifth film will be. After all, a title like that really doesn’t reveal much, so it could really go anywhere, but today we’re going to clear some of that up.

Now, I can’t say that I’m exactly over the moon for a new Transformers film from Michael Bay, but I am definitely a fan of the director. I just wish he’d do more films like The Rock, Pain and Gain, or the tragically underrated 13 Hours. While I enjoyed the first Transformers film, I’d love to see his talents on projects that don’t involve transforming hunks of metal, but this one is happening no matter what, so let’s see if there’s anything to be excited about as a result.

For starters, we already know Mark Wahlberg is back, which we can confirm. How he plays into the story, we don’t know, but his Cade Yeager is definitely in play here, as well as returning castmember Josh Duhamel as Lt. Col William Lennox. Also recently added is Anthony Hopkins, whose presence should make more sense with this scoop. 

The story for Transformers: The Last Night will involve Optimus Prime finding his home planet, Cybertron, now a dead planet, which he comes to find he was responsible for killing. He finds a way to bring the planet back to life, but in order to do so he needs to find an artifact. And of course, that artifact is on Earth. What is that artifact? Well, here’s where things get weird.

Somehow the artifact ties into Merlin, the magician of King Arthur lore. Apparently, the power of magic was given to Merlin by a Transformer and somehow the artifact ties into this. As far as what the artifact is, we can’t say, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it has something to do with the famed sword Excaliber (I mean, they did make sure to include a sword in the new logo, didn't they?). That’s just speculation on my part, but it sounds reasonable. Of course, we’ve seen the effects of time travel in these films already and are aware of Transformers visiting Earth throughout the planets existence, so that certainly fits with the universe they’ve created and now it appears that the story will add British Mythology to the narrative.

In terms of new and returning Transformers, we can confirm that Bumblebee will return, this time in a leadership role, while Optimus is off on his own mission. Also returning are Hound, Crosshairs, and Drift. The Autobots, now settled on Earth, are making their home in the Badlands of South Dakota, which will serve as their base of operations. Also returning are the Dinobots with the added addition of "mini-dinobots".  What those are or how they play out is unclear, but there you go.

There will be three new Transformers as well, including some with “English” origins, which is likely where Anthony Hopkins will come into play. One such character is called "The Creator" who is said to have ties to the origins of the Transformers. A Transformer with an English accent named Cogman, whose alt-mode is an Astin Martin, will appear, as well as a Transformer named Squeaks whose alt mode is a Vespa.

In addition, as has already been officially confirmed, the main villain is again Megatron, who will be back in full form with an alt mode of a jet fighter.

And that’s what we have for the latest installment of Transformers. It sounds consistent with the high-concept ties that the previous films have used, so it’s not a huge stretch in that regard. How it all comes together will be another story, but you can certainly expect the usual amount of Robotic Bayhem Carnage, which seems to be the main appeal to these films at the moment. I just hope it’s not three hours worth this time.

TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT is set to open on June 23, 2017.