Transformers 5 Is Introducing King Arthur, Find Out Who May Play Him

Optimus Prime

The Transformers franchise's bread and butter will always be giant robots turning into vehicles, but it looks like the fish movie will throw a little fantasy into the mix. Last week, it was reported that Transformers: The Last Knight is shooting scenes in Scotland that take place in medieval times, specifically incorporating the legend of King Arthur. Today brings news that the once and future king will appear in person, and Once Upon a Time actor Liam Garrigan may be the one playing him.

According to Mashable, Garrigan is in talks to appear as King Arthur in Transformers: The Last Knight. Both he and Merlin, played by Santiago Cabrera (who has previous Arthurian experience in the Merlin TV series) will play roles in the story, but it's still unclear just how much we'll see of them. This would actually be Garrigan's second time playing Arthur, as he recently played the legendary king in Once Upon a Time Season 5 over 10 episodes. At least we know he can pull off the role even before the movie comes out. While his costume will obviously look different in Transformers: The Last Knight, here's how he looked while playing the king on the small screen.

Liam Garrigan

It's not exaggerating to say that King Arthur ranks high among the world's most prominent myths and legends, so much so that there's no need to go over the intricacies of his stories. Pulling the sword from the stone, forming the Knights of the Round Table, all that jazz. As far as the Transformers movies go, there have been reports that magic will play a role in Transformers: The Last Knight, with Merlin said to have some kind of connection with the robots in disguise. Outside of brief flashbacks, the Transformers movies have been based in the present day, but it remains to be seen how these Arthurian moments will play into the main narrative. Another important question is whether Arthur will actually see these mighty alien beings (imagine him having a conversation with Optimus Prime) or if something he did in the past ties into what's happening in the present.

Outside of Once Upon a Time, Liam Garrigan has a number of TV credits on his resume, including 24: Live Another Day, The Chase, Strike Back and Raw. His most recent movie appearance was playing Iphicles in 2014's The Legend of Hercules. Assuming everything works out with Transformers: The Last Knight, he'll join a cast that includes Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Isabela Moner, Jerrod Carmichael, Laura Haddock and Anthony Hopkins. This movie is the latest installment of a franchise that's been going since 2007, and following its release, Transformers 6 and a Bumblebee spinoff will arrive soon after.

Transformers: The Last Knight hits theaters on June 23, 2017. Let us know what you think of King Arthur's presence in the comments below.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.