Full disclosure: I've only seen the first and fourth Transformers in full, and fragments of the other ones on TV while poorly nursing a hangover or wasting a Sunday afternoon. And with the arguable exception of the first film, which is largely serviceable if not very good, spending my time with Monsieur Michael Bay, as well as the Autobots and Decepticons, has been a regrettable, even loathsome activity.

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Image via Paramount

Still, it's hard to ignore the things Bay gets right. When the guy is at his imaginative best, his set pieces are thrilling, furious with action and digital precision that is dazzling, even caked in his need for empty, sentimentalized heroics and a love for the military that ignores the institution's rather brazen, um, issues. Indeed, the further Bay is from sappy, right-wing politics, the better, and the Transformers films at least have the decency to match their blowhard moments with big spectacles.


That's what we should be expecting from Transformers: The Last Knight, which has started principal photography over in Cuba but won't begin full-fledged production until June. Bay took to Instagram today to give a reminder that the film's start-of-production date is imminent, but that reminder came bundled in the revelation that Megatron will be returning for the fifth Transformers film, as the Instagram post features a close-up on the Decepticon leader's face.

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Image via Paramount Pictures

This isn't particularly a huge surprise, but, hey, the music and the image that Bay uses are pretty menacing, and that's essentially what I'm looking for from a Transformers villain. If I can get a Dinobot too, great, but really I just need a super mean, 40-stories-high robot to battle Optimus Prime and I'm good. So, at least on that front, Transformers: The Last Knight seems to be on the right track. Check out Bay's Instagram post right below.

Here's Bay's Instagram post:

It's starting. This week production. Megatron is back. #transformers #decepticons# A video posted by Michael Bay (@michaelbay) on

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Image via Paramount Pictures
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Image via Paramount Pictures