Why Megan Fox Didn’t Return For Transformers 3

Here’s why Megan Fox left Transformers: Dark of the Moon. With Steven Spielberg producing, Paramount launched a live-action Transformers franchise in 2007. The first film was directed by Michael Bay and starred Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, with Fox serving as his co-star and love interest Mikaela Banes. The 2007 movie was a huge hit financially and earned over $700 million worldwide. Its sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, did even better in 2009, guaranteeing a trilogy. However, the Megan Fox Transformers issue left a dark cloud over the franchise.

Despite Revenge of the Fallen ending with Mikaela professing her love for Sam, Fox did not return. The absence of Fox saw Rosie Huntington-Whiteley join the franchise as Sam’s new love interest Carly, with the film only barely explaining that Sam and Mikaela broke up. It was a little jarring to the canon of Bay’s Transformers movies, so what exactly caused the sudden departure of Fox from Transformers?

Why Megan Fox Wasn’t In Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Megan Fox’s exit from Transformers: Dark of the Moon was a response to a Wonderland interview she did in 2009 where she compared Bay’s attitude on set to that of Hitler. She said, “He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he’s a nightmare to work for.” Fox’s reps claimed it was her decision to leave, while reports pointed towards the studio and Bay deciding to move on. In 2011, Bay said that Spielberg told him to fire her after the Hitler comment was made.

The fallout of Fox’s comments lasted beyond Transformers 3, as she stopped appearing in bigger movies. Despite Megan Fox’s role in The Expendables 4 potentially resolving her mistake, she has said she wasn’t eager to return to the spotlight after her controversial statement and the Megan Fox Transformers issue, which has also undoubtedly played a part in her lightened workload. Bay was quite critical of her work ethic and attitude in the immediate years following these comments, so other directors and studios likely weren’t pushing to work with her either. Fox has said in recent years that she eventually learned the error of her ways. She knows that an apology at the time would’ve held open a space for her in the Transformers franchise.

Fox has since gone on to regain some of the popularity she lost despite the Megan Fox Transformers issue — Megan Fox’s horror movies, in particular, are acclaimed. She even repaired her relationship with Bay. The two worked together years before Transformers: Fox had an uncredited role in Bad Boys II at age 15. After Fox and Bay’s fallout passed, stared as April O’Neil in two of his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies. Fox even defended Bay for casting her underage in Bad Boys II. Clearly, they’ve overcome the differences that fueled why Megan Fox left Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

What Megan Fox Has Done Since Transformers

After the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Fox had a leading role in 2009’s comedy-horror Jennifer’s Body. After a few years of scoring only minor roles due to the Megan Fox Transformers issue, Fox made amends with Bay, which saw her cast in his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. She then secured a recurring role in the sitcom New Girl, replacing Zooey Deschanel while she was on maternity leave. Megan Fox also appeared in Netflix’s Night Teeth in 2021, a vampire thriller in which she played a villain.

Despite Fox remaining very much in the spotlight, her acting career never fully recovered from the Megan Fox Transformers issue. In fact, it was Bay himself that secured her another major blockbuster role, ensuring that any bad blood between the two is well and truly forgotten. Still, Megan Fox being fired from Transformers 3 was a major setback for her career.

Will There Be Any More Transformers Movies?

Despite the Megan Fox Transformers issue, Paramount has announced that its next Transformers movie, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, will be the first of three new installments, meaning the franchise will eventually run all the way up to Transformers 9. Rise of the Beasts is currently set for release on June 9, 2023, and will star Anthony Ramos as the ex-military protagonist Noah and Dominique Fishback as artifact researcher Elena. Ron Perlman will voice Optimus Primal, and characters like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee will be returning.

Story details are scarce for now, but the film is set all over the world including Brooklyn and Machu Picchu. As for whether Megan Fox will be involved, she may have patched things up with Bay, but her time in the Transformers franchise seems to be thoroughly over. With at least two more movies in the works over the next few years, though, there’s always the off-chance that Megan Fox could return after her firing from Transformers 3.

Unlike Sam Witwicky, Mikaela Could Technically Return To Transformers

While the Megan Fox Transformers issue is a rather salacious piece of movie history, it is possible that she could show up again in the Transformers franchise. While she was replaced as a love interest for Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), the actress did reconcile with Michael Bay, leading to her being cast in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Sam Witwicky was replaced by Mark Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager for Transformers: Age of Extinction, and there’s a big reason Witwicky can’t return to the franchise: Witwicky is canonically dead.

However, Mikaela is very much alive, as her absence wasn’t wholly explained in Transformers 3 beyond the fact she’d split up with Sam. It’s unlikely, but Mikaela could come back in a future Transformers sequel without breaking canon (unlike Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky). While it’s almost certainly never going to happen, the 2020s have proven to be the “never say never” era when it comes to throwbacks and cameos. So, while Megan Fox wasn’t in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, it doesn’t mean she’ll never be seen in the Transformers universe again.