Shia Labeouf played the main human protagonist, Sam Witwicky, early on in the Transformers franchise, but several fans were disappointed when the fourth installment, Transformers: Age of Extinction, didn’t include him. He played an important role in the first three movies and the conflict between Autobots and Decepticons. Witwicky was a high school kid who bought a used car which changed his fate forever, as it turned out to be a Transformer known as Bumblebee.
Autobots came to Earth to fight the Decepticons, and Witwicky became a key ally of the Autobots. In the movies Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Witwicky helped the Autobots to defeat the Decepticons who wished nothing but destruction. The character of Witwicky is joyful, but his personality changes a lot from being a teenage boy to a responsible and loyal man However, he didn’t return for Transformers 4, which leaves many questions behind.
Why Transformers 4 Didn’t Have Shia LaBeouf
The Transformers franchise is an exciting movie series that shows alien robots transforming into cars and vice versa; however, human connection was also important. This connection led to the development of the character of the human protagonist in a way that everyone loved, though humans were never the main focus of this movie series. Also, the director of the movie decided to introduce new characters, meaning he had to sacrifice some of the previous ones.
In several interviews, he mentioned that he wanted to give a fresh look to the series by adding a new cast. More importantly, the actor, Shia Labeouf, who played this role, also decided to leave the franchise as he said in an interview with MTV; “It’s definitely the end for Sam Witwicky.” In other interviews, he also mentioned that his ultimate goal was to become a producer and felt that his role was ‘irrelevant’ in the movie.
How Transformers 4 Got Around Sam Witwicky’s Absence
While Sam Witwicky’s absense in Transformers 4 disappointed many fans, it also gave them a chance for filmmakers to explore new ventures and opportunities. This allowed the writers to introduce a new character, Cade Yeager, who was played by Mark Wahlberg, and he found himself involved in the conflicts between Autobots and Decepticons. Not only that, many other human characters as well as new Autobots and Decepticons, were introduced in this movie.
In Transformers 4, we can hear Optimus Prime shout “Sam, Run,” when he is revived, giving the impression that Sam was in danger when Prime powered down. Then in Transformers 5, Witwicky’s photo was seen in Sir Edmond Burton’s mansion. Burton told the protagonists that Vivian was the last surviving member of the Witwiccans Order. Therefore, it is assumed that Sam Witwicky was no longer alive and died before the events of Age of Extinction. The first three movies adopted a similar formula, but it was refreshing to see changes in the story as they made it easy to digest Sam Witwicky‘s absense in Transfomers 4.
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