Last week Michael Bay came out and reaffirmed that this latest TRANSFORMERS film, THE LAST KNIGHT, would indeed be the last time he directed alien-robot-fueled carnage. Star of the last two films, Mark Wahlberg, also announced his retirement from the smashing and transforming, but according to him only one of them is truly finished with the franchise.
Speaking briefly with Comic Book, Wahlberg said Bay has committed so much time and effort to creating the cinematic universe of TRANSFORMERS, and that very difficult work is what makes it hard for Bay to commit to the next chapter after finishing each film:
You know it's one of those things where Michael has built this entire universe right, and he will decide what he wants to do and how he wants to do it. Right now he says he doesn't want to do another film and he says that after every film because they are so difficult to make and he pretty much has to do it single-handedly, even with all the help that he has because all of the movie is in his mind.
Indeed Bay has said in the past he is done with the series, all before taking on another film, and just like in the past Wahlberg believes Bay will be back for more after the stress of this latest film starts to fall off :
So he'll decide that and I would be hard pressed to see him walk away and put it in somebody else's control and care. I mean, that's just the Michael that I know, but you never know, sometimes people decide to move on, so we'll see what happens.
Though the series existed in several forms before Bay started making the movies, he has spent the last decade working hard to transform the series from classic cartoon into the multibillion dollar franchise it is today. It’s very much his baby, and other filmmakers (like George Lucas), don’t hand their babies over to someone else so easily. I agree with Wahlberg that Bay could come back in some way (producer?), but who knows, maybe Paramount is the one who will say "Bye, bye, bye" to Bay. If you say it out loud that sounds better.
TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT is in theaters now.