As we inch ever closer to the premiere of Transformers: Age of Extinction, Michael Bay’s upcoming fourth installment of the blockbuster “robots in disguise” franchise, it’s no surprise that we’re starting to see more news about the film — like today’s trio of new, robot-centric images.
The three shots from Age Of Extinction that debuted at Empire offer a peek at some of the returning ‘bots from the series, but it appears that these familiar characters have gone through some changes since the events of 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Autobot leader Optimus Prime is featured in two of the promotional images, with one (pictured below) depicting him on his knees amid fiery rubble and the destroyed remnants of a farm and a massive, possibly alien structure behind him. (You can almost hear the robotic “NoooOOOooo!!!”)
The second photo (pictured above) features Optimus wielding a sword, and the third image (pictured below) features returning character Bumblebee, who sports a new look for the film. The popular Autobot — who transforms into a yellow Camaro in his vehicle mode — appears to have found himself a new arm cannon, as well as a set of round, spiked, shuriken-like plates that adorn his back and shoulders. A spacecraft that looks similar to the background wreckage in the first image floats behind Bumblebee.
Transformers: Age of Extinction unfolds several years after Dark of the Moon, and follows a small-town mechanic played by Mark Wahlberg whose tinkering with a believed-dead Transformer brings him and his family into the middle of a cosmic conflict.
Age of Extinction hits theaters July 1o and stars Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Kelsey Grammer, Sophia Myles, Stanley Tucci, Titus Welliver, and Bingbing Li, as well as the voice actors Peter Cullen, John Goodman, Ken Watanabe, John DiMaggio, and Frank Welker.