Mark Wahlberg stars in official Transformers 4 photo

While official shots from the set of Transformers 4 have so far focussed mainly on the fourquel's automobiles, a new photo finally introduces a couple of humans - including Mark Wahlberg's satchel-wearing hero.

The above photo was released over the weekend, and shows director Michael Bay out-posing Wahlberg in front of a strange new monolith.

What is said monolith? Could it be the franchise's new MacGuffin, taking over from the Allspark - the energy cube that was so pivotal to the first Transformers flick?

Or could this be one part of Fortress Maximus, the giant Transformer who's yet to take a bow on the big screen?

Obviously it's impossible to tell this early. After all, this could also just be Bay taking us all for a ride with a shot of some fancy set dressing…

Transformers 4 opens on 10 July 2014.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.