Bumblebee Director Comments On Michael Bay’s Transformers Return, “He Started That Whole Thing”

Michael Bay is coming back to direct a new Transformers movie, which is a twist that many fans never saw coming. The franchise has spent nearly a decade trying to move on from Bay’s era, releasing two soft reboots (Transformers: Bumblebee, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and returning to animated features with the prequel film Transformers One. None of those films made the kinds of box office money that Bay’s movies did, so now Transformers 8 is going back to the same old well.

But box office returns aren’t everything. There were many fans who felt like Travis Knight’s 2018 film Bumblebee was much more faithful to the look and spirit of the G1 Transformers cartoon than Bay’s films ever were. The film made $468 million at the box office against a budget of $120+ million, and spawned a sequel, Rise of the Beasts (2023), which was directed by Steven Caple Jr.

The final scene of Rise of the Beasts really blew the door open by bringing G.I. Joe into the Transformers franchise for a surprise crossover. But now the franchise crossover plan is dead, and Transformers 8 is being handed back to Bay. Meanwhile, Travis Knight has settled into a nice mix of continuing to reboot beloved ’80s cartoons into blockbuster films and creating epic stop-motion animated films. In 2026, he’s done both: Masters of the Universe brought He-Man to a whole new generation of fans, and he just released the stop-motion animated adaptation of the hit fantasy novel Wildwood.

While at the press junket for Wildwood, ComicBook’s Law Sharma had to inquire about how Travis Knight feels seeing Michael Bay take the reins of the Transformers movie universe, once again.

“He started that whole thing, and I’m interested to see what he does. Michael was an amazing supporter of me when I was making Bumblebee,” Knight said. And I really did appreciate that. He gave me some great advice. Bumblebee was a joyful experience for me, bringing that world to life.”

Not only does Knight support Bay’s return, but he made it clear that there’s not one bit of animosity in him about only getting to do one Transformers film. “You know, with every film that I’ve done, I put everything that I have into the film, assuming I’ll never get another chance to tell a story in this world and with these characters. That was the case with Bumblebee. You always imagine where these characters’ lives go beyond the end of the film, beyond the edge of the frame… I love living in that universe. I’m grateful for the time that I had there. And I cannot wait to see where Michael takes it from here.”

Steven Spielberg will be attached to direct the next Transformers film, with Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman, It: Welcome to Derry) writing the script. Now details on the storyline, characters, human cast, or how Transformers 8 will fit into the larger franchise timeline.

You can stream Bumblebee on Paramount+. Wildwood is now in theaters. Are you happy to have Bay back with Transformers? Or do you want more of the universe Travis Knight built? Let us know in the comments!

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