Readers probably wouldn’t be the least bit shocked to hear that Michael Bay is testing hot young actors for lead roles in Transformers 4. Megan Fox, Rachel Taylor, Isabel Lucas, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley all fit that mold that Bay was looking for, and he is using it once again, further proving that no ugly people ever take the lead in Bay’s film universe. However, unlike the Victoria Secret model or the virtual unknown he cast for previous Transformers films, Bay is looking for an actor who has actual talent or an actor who is related to someone who has some talent.

Isabelle Cornish and Nicola Peltz are testing for the female lead in the film. According to reports, the actress who gets the role will most likely play the daughter of Mark Wahlberg‘s character and be the love interest for the new male lead. If Cornish’s name sounds familiar, it’s because she is the younger sister of Abbie Cornish. Peltz is also well-known for her lead role in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender.

Michael Bay will put the cast of the first three Transformers films behind him and pave a new future for the franchise by casting fresh faces for Transformers 4. With all the cast confirmed not to return for a fourth appearance, Bay started off by casting his Pain & Gain star Mark Wahlberg as the lead. No details have been provided about the character, but Bay took the time to talk to TMZ about when the film will take place, the character, and a new release date.

The director told the gossip site that Transformers 4 will take place four years after the events of Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

It started as a rumor that Michael Bay was in talks with Mark Wahlberg to star in his return to giant alien robots, Transformers 4. Bay denied these rumors, saying that he and Wahlberg, who stars in the director’s next movie, Pain and Gain, were in talks for another project.

But then the ‘net—as it tends to do on occasion—began buzzing over the rumored casting, and it apparently led Bay to think of a part in the movie for the actor. Which brings us to now, where word that Wahlberg has indeed been cast in Transformers 4 has been made official by Bay himself. A new logo for the movie (seen above) was also released.

This internet…it’s a wacky sorta place.

At this point, I really don’t think fans need Michael Bay to explain why he is doing Transformers 4. On one hand, you could accept the following quotes below and on the other, you can say he is doing it for the money. But the man is talking, and he gives us some very surprising answers as to why he is coming back.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Bay talked about his hesitancy to return to direct Transformers 4 and how long lines at the Transformers 3D ride at Universal Studios in Los Angeles inspired him to come back for a fourth time.

With every new sequel comes new characters, and when you have a multi-billion dollar franchise like Transformers, you will add as many characters as you can to boost toy sales. So it’s not surprising at all to hear that we will be seeing new characters introduced in the untitled Transformers 4 movie.

It’s been known that the core cast of the Transformers films won’t return to reprise their characters. As to whether or not the voice cast will return to voice their respective Autobot personas is unknown. But according to HASBRO CEO Brian Goldner, we will be seeing more Autobots recruited to fight the war against the Decepticons in the next film.