While Transformers:The Last Knight wasn’t a box office bomb, it was the lowest-grossing entry in the franchise (and the worst). This must have shaken Paramount up a bit because not long after the dust settled, rumors suggested a planned reboot of the series after the slated Bumblebee stand-alone film.
The idea of a fresh start for the series excited many fans, though as a person that has never seen any of the television shows or read any of the comics or played any of the games, I couldn’t be more disinterested. Diehards feel as though they have been cheated as it is to my understanding that the Bay films are in no representative of the best of the source material.
In any case, last week Hasbro hinted at a possible reboot for the Transformers only to backpedal almost immediately after. At the New York toy fair, the latest word is the reboot is no longer likely to happen. Hasbro Branch manager told fans at the event to “Not believe what you hear, don’t worry.”
It’s very charitable to think fans were worried that the universally panned Michael Bay films might finally be put to rest. The Bumble Bee film is for sure on the docket so my assumption would be, considering the film is set so far in the past, that it was planned as a soft reboot from the beginning. How much of the existing canon will play into its sequels will largely be determined by its critical, audience and box office reception. Maybe Hasbro believes news of a reboot could continue the franchise's financial descent. The Bumble Bee film has lower production costs going for it, but I have no reason to believe the film will perform all that well. It’s got some pretty stiff competition to consider: Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse, The Mortal Engines, and of course Aquaman.
We’ll see and keep you posted as more news develops.
