Michael Bay to direct TF4 - Peter Cullen returns as Optimus

[Megatron]

Optimus Prime: "Megatron, you're back! But... how?"
Megatron: "Hasbro did it."

Fair 'nuff, no series is for everyone. BW Megs is my all-time favourite TF character, but again he won't be to everyone's taste.

Also to be fair, Bay is very good at what he does, it's just that what he does isn't character and/or plot depth/development. If you want a mindless, explosion-filled action flick with some nice lead-female butt shots then aside from being overly long his TF movies fit the bill quite well - much like Star Wars Episode 3 is actually quite an entertaining movie when you skip all the boring plot and romance bits. IMO there's a place for popcorn flicks that you can just turn your brain off and enjoy watching as well as sweeping narratives, it is nice to just zone out for a while and enjoy watching things blow up sometimes - case in point, I'm playing Just Cause 2 atm and absolutely loving it. When Bay gets around to making Bikini Babe Explosion Squad - Trampolines of Terror I'll probably check it out, but when it comes to character and plot depth I'll look to filmmakers who worry about that sort of thing, and/or replay the Thief series.

Yep - I guess we'll never have both great action and a quality storyline in a TF live-action movie, which is sad.

Oh I have Just Cause 2 - haven't played it yet.

By all means let him bring back Megatron, as has been noted it's what the general public knows and expects, but it's still kinda dodgy to definitively off a lead villain and pseudo-magically revive him once, let alone twice.

I agree. It would take a very talented writer to pull that one off in a way that is both acceptable and believable.

I prefer this idea myself, but it'd need the right soundtrack too.

lol... that was heartwarming, thanks... love the last line there too, "It's Hook or me this time..." I don't think the soundtrack is right, though. Something from RotF (or DotM) movie soundtrack would be better suited.

The movies may well introduce more villains, or have Megatron playing a minor role (even if it is a flashback, just to have him on screen)... but the point I was trying to make was from Hasbro's perspective - no matter what Bay does, they will want to sell as many toys as possible, and that means Optimus, Bumblebee and Megatron.

Look at TF2 & TF3 - as people have pointed out above, Megatron was a sidekick to The Fallen and Sentinel Prime.... but who had more toys and merchandise in the stores?
The Fallen had...
a Voyager toy (in three colour versions),
a Legends toy,
a Robot Replica,
and a Robot Heroes figurine. That's it.

What did Megatron have for TF2?
A Leader mould (done twice),
a new Voyager mould,
a redeco of the 2007 Voyager mould,
a Legion mould (done at least twice between US & JP),
a FAB mould,
a Powerbot,
an Activator,
a Robot Replica,
three different Robot Heroes figurines,
a Battle Charger,
a Speedstars Stealth Force vehicle,
and an RPMs/Speedstars Mini-vehicle (done four times).

The ratio is closer for TF3 between the Megatron and Sentinel Prime toys... but was still in favour of Megatron (7 to 6 - there were over 150 TF3 toys but only 13 were of the two main villains), making Megatron the bigger "villain" cash-cow for Hasbro.

That was my point - ignoring how well someone else can be written in as a character, or how much Bay wants someone new (since he keeps trying to get rid of Megatron), Hasbro will make sure that Megatron is on screen in some way (flashback or in the story), so that they can sell more Decepticon toys, to the kids and parents that Hasbro "feeds off".

The proof is the excessive number of Bumblebee and Optimus toys... produced for the majority of consumers who aren't fans (returning consumers).

I don't think anyone misunderstood your original point. And for me if that's what it takes to have Megatron in future movies, then I hope that Hasbro's money-making motivations win over Bay.

Still... there was no DotM Megatron leader toy... and it's my favorite design of all the 3 movies...

I can deal with Megatron in flashbacks... that's fine. Then Megatron could pump out repaints of existing moulds and call them, "Shadow Command Old Timey Megatron" etc. (hey, it wouldn't be any weirder than some of the other repaint concepts they've come up with before!)

I don't want flashbacks. I'd be happy even if he just had a minor role, and a new villain was introduced (like they did with the Fallen)... better that than not at all.

Yeah but from a Transformers fan's POV it sucks how Transformers can't be elevated to something better than just a popcorn flick/rollercoaster ride style film. Because we know that Transformers can be so much more than meets the eye.

Agreed, but it's better than nothing I guess.