Transformers 5 casts someone who already plays King Arthur as King Arthur, plus: Merlin confirmed

The rumor that Michael Bay's final Transformers movie would circle back through the ages and link up to Arthurian legend seemed too much. Except, Bay's vocabulary doesn't include the words 'too much.'

Transformers: The Last Knight will be the next entry in the franchise to integrate the Autobots and Decepticons into a pivotal point in history, as the role of King Arthur has now been cast. Mashable reports that Liam Garrigan will play the part, after having tackled the role previously on Once Upon A Time. What's also buried in the site's announcement is news that Arthur won't be the only notable legend set to appear: Santiago Cabrera's role is apparently Merlin the magician.

Paramount still hasn't confirmed any of these rumors about the movie's historical plottings, but at this point it's all but certain. Set photos from the production on the Isle of Skye showed a bunch of actors milling around in period garb. What's still unknown is how this is going to all sync up to the present day storyline. Based on the scraps we know so far, Mark Wahlberg's inventor returns to help his chum Optimus, and the military presence from the third installment are also back in the shape of Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson. Does the military have access to.... a time travel device? It's possible that Bay's going all-out for his final foray, but then again, Arthur and co. might just be shown via flashbacks.

Directed by Michael Bay and starring Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Jerrod Carmichael, Santiago Cabrera, Anthony Hopkins, and Peter Cullen, Transformers: The Last Knight will roll into cinemas on June 23, 2017.