After leading two of the previous installments of the mega-franchise Transformers, Mark Wahlberg announced his exit from the Transformers franchise. 

Ever since his exit was marked because of the chronology of the sequel, the filmmakers proposed removing a terrifying fight scene from the recent installment, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Discussing with Collider, director Steven Caple Jr. mentioned the reason behind his decision to remove the epic fight sequel. Calling the scene “too dark” that happened to have been hampering the family-friendly tag, the director proposed cutting the painful scene and ensuring clarity. Following Mark Wahlberg’s exit, Steven Caple Jr. tried avoiding further complexities and making the movie worthy of enjoyment.

Mark Wahlberg Exited Transformers Franchise

Mark Wahlberg had been a major part of the $4.8B Transformers franchise following his debut as Cade Yeager. Being introduced in the fourth installment of the film series, through Michael Bay and Paramount, Wahlberg led Transformers: Age of Extinction. Further, witnessing the success of the movie, the actor re-teamed for Transformers: The Last Knight.

Mark Wahlberg
However, Mark Wahlberg had to bid adieu to the franchise for the recently released installment, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Set in 1994, the recent sequel takes place years before the events of Michael Bay’s Transformers movies. And since Cade Yeager’s story with the billion-dollar franchise did not begin until 2018, Wahlberg will not be appearing in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. 

Mark Wahlberg in Transformers: The Last Knight
Being a celebrated actor and a beloved part of the Transformers franchise, Mark Wahlberg‘s exit created a terrible impact. So much so that Paramount needed to push the franchise in a new direction. Previously gaining audiences’ interest and thus plummeting at the box office, the notable franchise is trying hard to maintain the same popularity with their recently released movie. Thus spinning the wheels of creativity, the latest installment is said to use a new cast entirely.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Removed Terrifying Fight Scene

Trying not to take a dip in reviews and attract a diverse audience base, the latest installment of Transformers is trying hard to maintain relatability. Running towards perfection, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts director Steven Caple Jr removed an epic fight scene between Optimus Prime and his mortal enemies, the Decepticons. Calling Optimus Prime’s hunting of the Decepticons “too dark,” the director made the cut.
Director Steven Caple Jr
While the franchise is trying to introduce new and chaotic mighty robot factions into the classic Autobot and Decepticon mix, they are also chasing the family-friendly tag. Miserably failing to attain either, the director is making calls to remove fight scenes to avoid brutality and offense. Discussing with Collider, the director stated, “I tend to keep my director’s cut pretty tight…but there’s small scenes in there that just cause confusion”
“Like, one was this Decepticon scene; Transit that I’ve been talking about…It was a really epic fight scene, and then you saw Optimus Prime dump his body in the Hudson River, and all these Decepticons were dead and you saw that he’s been hunting for the last few years”. Steven Caple Jr detailed.
Steven Caple Jr removed brutal fight scenes
Further stating how the scene was pointed out to be brutal during the screening process, the director stated, “So when we screened it, people were like, ‘Damn, this is kind of dark.‘”. Thus Caple wanted to dive into the Maximal origin story and understand the mythology of the Beast Wars and edit the scenes accordingly. However, he soon realized how it went extremely confusing and therefore decided “rewriting and editing and pulse” to bring clarity and remove excessive brutality.