Transformers Director Michael Bay Defends Nazi Imagery In The Last Knight

Last week, Transformers: The Last Knight came under fire for redressing Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home of Winston Churchill, the British leader who stood against the Axis in World War II, as a Nazi base, complete with swastika banner.

Transformers: The Last Knight director Michael Bay has now come out in defense of that production decision, saying that those upset by the move simply don't understand the context of the film.

"People were not fortunate enough to read the script, and they don't know Churchill in this movie is a big hero, and Churchill would be smiling about Last Knight," Bay told the BBC. "They haven't seen the movie. They don't know the ending, and they don't know how Churchill is a hero in this movie."

Bay went on to ask that fans and critics have a little faith in his track record as concerns veterans of war.

"When you see the movie you'll understand," he said. "I for one, probably more than any other director in the world, have short more veterans and more active military men and women in my movies...I would do nothing to disrespect veterans."

Transformers: The Last Knight is the fifth film in the Transformers franchise, and a direct follow-up to 2014's Transformers: Age of Extinction. Bay is returning to direct the franchise for the fifth and final time.

Transformers: The Last Knight stars returning cast Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Josh Duhamel, and Tyrese Gibson and newcomers Isabela Moner, Liam Garrigan, Jerrod Carmichael, Mitch Pileggi, Laura Haddock, Santiago Cabrera, and Anthony Hopkins.

Plot details for Transformers: The Last Knight are scarce, but the inclusion of characters like Churchill and King Arthur suggests either flashbacks or time travel will factor in, and that England will be a significant locale.

Transformers: The Last Knight opens June 23, 2017.