New love interest is called Carly.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/nelson-confirms-rosie-huntington-whiteley-as-carly-170241/

[GoktimusPrime]

Nice. :)

[1AZRAEL1]

Wonder why they chose the name Carly...

[5FDP]

Wonder why they chose the name Carly...

You're just joking right? ;)

[1AZRAEL1]

You're just joking right? ;)

:p

[Gutsman Heavy]

Wonder why they chose the name Carly...

capatilse on all those iCarly fans.

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real TF characters, present or past, is purely coincidental.

[Seraphim Prime]

Awesome. So the movie folks finally give in to the loud minority that had to have Carly in the movie.

Next thing you'll want is there to be some throwaway linke about how Sam used to "Spike" the ball during volleyball or something stupid like that...


In case it's not clear, I actually don't care for Carly. The movie is not G1. It does not have to be, and shouldn't have to perform to the changing whim of the fandom. Okay, cool throwaway. But the next thing to happen will be that everyone will leave the movie and complain how Carly isn't the same as she was in G1, and how that ruins the movie for them.

Because it's not as if Sam & Mikaela's relationship had more characterisation than the Spike/Carly one...

[Paulbot]

I was hoping for Jesse... :o

But I can wait for the fourth movie: the reboot movie with a new director and some cute blond as Buster Witwicky.

[AussieJason]

A smart move actually, to try to appease some fans over the sudden departure of the series' female lead.

[GoktimusPrime]

Awesome. So the movie folks finally give in to the loud minority that had to have Carly in the movie.
I don't think that's the reason why. More like cos they happened to replace Megan Fox -- so Sam's new love interest needs a name. Why not pluck something from G1?


Next thing you'll want is there to be some throwaway linke about how Sam used to "Spike" the ball during volleyball or something stupid like that...
"Spike" is a silly name. So are the names of his brothers Buster and Butch. Not to mention "Sparkplug" (although Sparkplug was just his nickname, his real name was William Irving Witwicky). They chose these names for reasons of political correctness as they're not Judeo-Christian or Anglo-Celtic based names; thus not making children of non-JC cultural backgrounds feel marginalised. I guess they must've relaxed this policy by time Earl Kress created Carly (from the Italian name "Carlotta"), and certainly by Transformers The Movie when we saw Daniel -- a very much Judeo-Christian name! :D

Unlike Spike, Buster or Sparkplug, 'Carly' is a perfectly "normal" name that the movie going public can accept.


In case it's not clear, I actually don't care for Carly. The movie is not G1. It does not have to be, and shouldn't have to perform to the changing whim of the fandom.
I don't think this was done "at the whim of the fandom" -- I think they just saw the opportunity and took it. And I don't see how the movie franchise would be detrimentally effected by this decision either. What? How _dare_ they try to make fans happy?


Okay, cool throwaway. But the next thing to happen will be that everyone will leave the movie and complain how Carly isn't the same as she was in G1, and how that ruins the movie for them.
Yeah, but those people have hated the movie franchise since the beginning, and no matter what decision they make with this new character's name isn't going to change their opinions. Having a girl called Carly who isn't their Carly is fairly minor compared to a lot of other elements in the movie franchise. Just the other day a friend of mine who's not a Transfan but liked Transformers as a kid, was complaining to me about how movie Prime's a long nose truck and how Optimus Prime was ALWAYS a flat nose truck before then and how Michael Bay 'perverted' the image of Optimus Prime by making him a long nose truck. So I showed him my 1995 Laser Optimus Prime and that was the end of that discussion!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/th_nigahiga_pwned.jpg (http://www.tfu.info/1995/Autobot/OptimusPrime/optimusprime.htm)


Because it's not as if Sam & Mikaela's relationship had more characterisation than the Spike/Carly one...
I found Carly contributed more as Spike's partner in fighting against Decepticons. Mikaela feels more like a tag-along by comparison. :/ On the other hand, Carly gave birth to Daniel, which is like -100 points to her. :p


I was hoping for Jesse... :o
Yes! +10!! They should've called Mikaela's character Jesse and the new one Carly, or even vice versa (cos I doubt they were planning on sacking Megan Fox after the second movie when they were making the first one ;)).

They could even dye the new actress' hair red... or hire Karen Gillan <grrrowwlll :D> Damn ginger conspiracy!


But I can wait for the fourth movie: the reboot movie with a new director and some cute blond as Buster Witwicky.
Howsabout Chris Hemsworth (http://www.aintitcool.com/images2009/hemsworth.jpg)?

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Am I the only one strangely reminded of The Rude Awakening of Optimus Prime (NSFW) by this discussion?:D

[Seraphim Prime]

I don't think that's the reason why. More like cos they happened to replace Megan Fox -- so Sam's new love interest needs a name. Why not pluck something from G1?


I don't think this was done "at the whim of the fandom" -- I think they just saw the opportunity and took it. And I don't see how the movie franchise would be detrimentally effected by this decision either. What? How _dare_ they try to make fans happy?

I agree that it's a cool shout-out, and does please the fans without making the movie completely unwatchable by non-fans, but it makes one concession and then those fans that are never happy will have a whole raft of new reasons to proclaim why this movie tries and fails to live up to the awesumness that is G1, and that Michael Bay is raping their childhood. When in Bay seems to be more approachable and giving in what I have seen so far when it comes to showing people what they can expect and appreciating the fans more than he seemed to before.


"Spike" is a silly name.
Agreed, but if we're doing shout-outs why not a Spike shout-out? We could even have his Mum talk about how her little "Spikey" is all grown up now. Why stop at Carly?


I found Carly contributed more as Spike's partner in fighting against Decepticons. Mikaela feels more like a tag-along by comparison. :/ On the other hand, Carly gave birth to Daniel, which is like -100 points to her. :p

Agreed in terms of Carly helping more against the Decepticons, but their "relationship" seemed more like two friends than bf/gf (probably because of they were aiming at the children demographic) until Spike/Carly appeared as husband/wife in FFoD. Whereas the Sam/Mikaela relationship did actually have development.


I think my answer came out more angry than I intended it, but I just don't want to see what I know will happen - people will look at the fact that they have "Carly" in the new movie and think that it's the movie going to G1 as it should have from the beginning, then being outraged when the relationship we see in the movie is nothing like the one seen in G1, when in fact there was very little of what they believe they saw in the actual cartoon at all, or when a few little shout-outs don't continue to a full-on auhsum retelling of the G1 story.

[Magnus]

To be honest, I'm actually hoping this Carly is quite different to G1's Carly, because I felt that Mikaela was Carly in the same way that Sam is Spike: both are S. Witwicky's love interest, and both are good with technology (G1 Carly was an electrical engineer; Mikaela was a mechanic), so making a 'G1-accurate' Carly would basically mean having the same character as Mikaela.

[GoktimusPrime]

I agree that it's a cool shout-out, and does please the fans without making the movie completely unwatchable by non-fans, but it makes one concession and then those fans that are never happy will have a whole raft of new reasons to proclaim why this movie tries and fails to live up to the awesumness that is G1, and that Michael Bay is raping their childhood.
Yeah but those people will NEVER be happy no matter what Bay does. People who insist on perfect G1 fidelity would already been mad that:
+ Optimus Prime isn't a flat nose truck and has chopper flames
+ Megatron isn't a pistol
+ Bumblebee isn't a Punch Buggy
+ Soundwave isn't a walkman
+ Jolt is an Autobot
+ Who the hell is Mudflap?
+ Skids is twin but Sideswipe isn't
+ Blackout isn't the front half of a fighter jet
+ Bonecrusher isn't a Constructicon (but Rampage is!)
+ Barricade isn't a race car
+ Scorponok's not a gigantic Headmaster
+ Ravage doesn't transform into a cassette
...etc.


Agreed, but if we're doing shout-outs why not a Spike shout-out? We could even have his Mum talk about how her little "Spikey" is all grown up now. Why stop at Carly?
Actually, I've always thought of Sam as being more like Buster than Spike. Consider the following:
+ Buster was a high schooler, Spike had already finished school (he was a uni student in the comics and was a rig worker in the cartoon)
+ Buster took Bumblebee home with him, not knowing that he was an alien robot - later to be completely shocked when Bumblebee transformed and revealed his true nature; and soon forming an alliance with Buster and Sparkplug. Spike's first TF encounter was against Rumble -- and his first intimate contact with an Autobot was with Optimus Prime (who rescued him and Sparkplug).
+ At one point Buster possessed the power of the Matrix in his mind - somewhat similar to when Sam possessed the knowledge from the AllSpark in his brain. The closest Spike's ever gotten to that was when he became bonded to Fortress Maximus and their minds became intimately linked -- but Sam's never done anything like that.

And why does there _have_ to always be a shout out? Optimus Prime once said, "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings," but does that mean that Megatron _has_ to say "Peace through tyranny" (or "Everything is fodder"), or does Soundwave have to say "Cries and screams are music to my ears" or does Starscream have to say "Conquest is made from the ashes of one's enemies" etc.? Glenn Whitman is arguably the movie's equivalent to Chip Chase, yet there was no obligatory reference to Chip (he wasn't even a pretend cripple (http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/9/94/Chipchase.jpg) like Chip!). Seymour Simmons is comparable with G1's Walter Barnett... but aside from their similar roles they have nothing in common (Barnett lives with his wife and kid, Simmons lives with his mum!). Just because there's one human character who shares her name with a G1 character doesn't mean they all do.


Agreed in terms of Carly helping more against the Decepticons, but their "relationship" seemed more like two friends than bf/gf (probably because of they were aiming at the children demographic) until Spike/Carly appeared as husband/wife in FFoD. Whereas the Sam/Mikaela relationship did actually have development.
I believe that's why Paulbot was saying that he would've preferred seeing the new girlfriend being called "Jessie" as Jessie was definitely portrayed as being Buster's girlfriend. They were both snogging when Bumblebee hit into their car -- no ambiguity there! :D


but I just don't want to see what I know will happen - people will look at the fact that they have "Carly" in the new movie and think that it's the movie going to G1 as it should have from the beginning, then being outraged when the relationship we see in the movie is nothing like the one seen in G1, when in fact there was very little of what they believe they saw in the actual cartoon at all, or when a few little shout-outs don't continue to a full-on auhsum retelling of the G1 story.
There will always be people like that... and they're a minority. I wouldn't worry about them. If Michael Bay made the TF movies to please them, the franchise would have failed long ago... ya know, just like how Transformers The Movie was a box office flop in 1986 despite being widely loved by fans. Bay will never please everyone -- he just needs to focus on making a movie that the majority of audiences will find pleasing. If he wrote a story with the intention of exclusively pleasing G1 fans, then the movie would fail.

It's not worth listening to unreasonable fan demands. So I wouldn't worry about it... let those people whinge.


To be honest, I'm actually hoping this Carly is quite different to G1's Carly, because I felt that Mikaela was Carly in the same way that Sam is Spike: both are S. Witwicky's love interest, and both are good with technology (G1 Carly was an electrical engineer; Mikaela was a mechanic), so making a 'G1-accurate' Carly would basically mean having the same character as Mikaela.
Yeah, I suppose being able to hotwire cars and understand engines at a glance is more plausible than being able to instantly modify alien technology after a glance. :D

...they could just use the new actress and call her Mikaela - i.e. replace Megan with her. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened in a movie, just look at Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins and by Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight). I hope the writers are able to explain Mikaela's absence well enough... :/

[Sky Shadow]

I hope the writers are able to explain Mikaela's absence well enough... :/

A #*@%ing pyramid fell on her.

[AussieJason]

A #*@%ing pyramid fell on her.

Sadly, I expect the real explanation to be about on par with this.

[tjparkside]

at least it isn't replacement actress for same love interest!:o

[Bartrim]

, Simmons lives with his mum

No. His mother lives with him:p