BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

How The Newly Revealed 'Transformers 5' Title Could Be Hinting At A Major Crossover

This article is more than 7 years old.

It's official: the fifth Michael Bay Transformers movie will be called The Last Knight. And just as the title of part 4 (Age of Extinction) clued us in on who the major new characters would be (Dinobots), there are some potentially huge hints here as to what might be coming.

First of all, notice the new font. Previous Transformers movies have featured lettering in line with the toy logos; this looks like it comes from something altogether different. Why change it now? Well, it could be simply just a brand refresh, but I suspect otherwise. More on that in just a moment.

Secondly, who is the last knight? Well, the logo contains the sword that Optimus found on the alien ship in the last movie, and since he wielded it in battle, it's reasonable to assume he's the last knight. Except that he's never been called that, and the sword technically doesn't belong to him. In fact, Age of Extinction ended with him heading into space - newly empowered to do so by the sword and its attendant upgrades - to search for its owner.

So, toy fans: who do we know that can travel through space thanks to his armor, is the last of a race of knights, and uses a blockier font for his logo?

Marvel

Now, let's move the letters around a bit on that new logo, shall we?

Here's the kicker: we know Hasbro has movie plans for Rom, the old Parker Brothers toy that was one of the first action figures to include electronic lights and sounds. He's slated to be part of a shared cinematic universe that will also include the Micronauts, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., and the Visionaries. It was assumed that Transformers would stay out of it, having previously announced plans for a spin-off universe of their own, and generally not needing the help. Even Age of Extinction, the lowest-grossing Transformers movie domestically (besides the animated one from the '80s), raked in $1.1 billion worldwide, while the last G.I. Joe movie pulled in a "mere" $375 million internationally.

And yet: isn't that how Marvel launched their cinematic universe? Using the popular character to segue into the riskier ones? Robert Downey Jr.'s cameo in The Incredible Hulk's end credits was actually part of that film's marketing campaign, and Iron Man 2 segued into Thor at the end. Rom would make sense in the Bay-formers universe, in which special robotic technology not unlike Rom's "plandanium" armor has been established.

With the new logo and title, it appears to this longtime toy collector that Hasbro just dropped a huge hint. You can see the animated logo below via Instagram, also featuring a close-up of Optimus Prime with uncharacteristically purple eyes. Traditionally in these movies, Decepticons have red eyes while Autobots have blue. So why purple?

Well, Rom's arch-enemies, the Dire Wraiths, can duplicate the appearance of others. You'll never guess what color they are often depicted as in their natural state.

Transformers: The Last Knight begins filming in June. We should find out in short order afterwards if my theory is correct.