The Rock Turned Down The Lead Role In Transformers 4
This article is more than 2 years old
Next summer we will see the release of Transformers 4, starring Mark Wahlberg, Jack Reynor, Nicola Peltz, and Brenton Thwaites. Landing Wahlberg for the lead was a big deal, but he wasn’t Bay’s first choice. Apparently, the Transformers director approached Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for the role, but Johnson turned it down to work on another movie instead. Johnson Tweeted:
Michael Bay offered me Transformers, but I was unavailable due to Hercules. Then Wahlberg was offered the role. #RockTalk @nadydi
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 26, 2013
Dwayne Johnson steals the show in Pain & Gain, so it does make you wonder what he would have been like in a Transformers movie. Wahlberg will surely do a fine job, but Dwayne Johnson could have brought the series to a new and exciting level. Instead, Johnson will be playing the iconic Greek hero in Brett Ratner’s Hercules: The Thracian Wars.
There has been some speculation that Hasbro could someday crossover Transformers and G.I. Joe, since shared universes are all the rage thanks to the success of The Avengers and the possible Justice League movie. Dwayne Johnson starred as Roadblock in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, so who knows, maybe he’ll bridge the franchises at some point (but probably not).
As for Transformers 4, Bay once said the new film would be a complete re-design of the franchise, and that goal extends to the actual Transformers themselves, too. While promoting Pain & Gain, Michael Bay told Moviefone.com:
“You know there are a couple of historians of Transformers,” Bay continues. “I would do my designs of the robots and they’re like, ‘What if you just add a little bit more ears to Optimus?’ But they’re really hands off. We’ve redesigned them in Transformers 4, and there’s some really cool shit in it. I’m literally redesigning every character, top to bottom. There’s a reason why they’re redesigned, but it’s also to keep it new and fresh to me. I think the fans will appreciate some of this new stuff we have in the movie and some of the new characters.”
There has been some speculation that Transformers 4 might feature the civil war between Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron, the Transformers’ home planet. Honestly, an entire movie featuring nothing but Transformers would be a sight to see.
Transformers 4 will hit theaters everywhere on June 27, 2014, in 3D and IMAX.
