The trailer for the fifth installment of the Transformers franchise has arrived and, much like the initial Artwork that landed in August, it’s rather coy about the plot.

What we know about Transformers: The Last Knight so far:

According to the IMDB synopsis, Optimus Prime returns to find that their home planet, Cybertron, is dead and that he is in fact to blame. A sole hope remains in a lost artifact that could return life to Cybertron. Low and behold….it’s on earth. So it would seem our little planet is, yet again, going to be the battleground, this time for the survival of Cybertron (is there actually anything left to blow up?)

Michael Bay, king of car chases and explosions, thinks so taking up the helm once again with returning series cast members Josh Duhamel (Lt. Colonel William Lennox) and John Turturro (Agent Simmons). Mark Wahlberg reprises his role of Cade Yeager from his first outing in Age of Extinction and Peter Cullen once again brings to life the character he first voiced in 1984, legendary leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime. Also introduced for the first time is Anthony Hopkins, entering the fray with his still as yet unnamed character (and contrary to my much-desired wish from previous articles, he isn’t voicing Unicron).

What can we surmise from the first trailer?

Based on the massive planet- sized thing that looks like it is about to engulf the moon, Cybertron could be potentially brought back to life and become the entity Unicron, last voiced by Orson Wells shortly before he died in the 1985 film Transformers The Movie.

That and the synopsis from IMDB could lead to a conclusion that Optimus will successfully locate the artifact needed to return Cybertron to life, creating Unicron. Out of guilt for being the cause of Cybertron’s demise, Prime could be swayed to defend Cybertron/Unicron from attack as it consumes planets, including Earth, becoming Unicron’s champion, Nemesis Prime.

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If this is accurate, a dire internal conflict between the Autobots could arise as they struggle to decide whether to defend Earth from their home planet or follow their leader – whatever his motive maybe. Towards the end of the trailer we do see fan favourite Bumblebee attacking Optimus head-on but is overpowered. Has Bumblebee gone renegade or are his actions a sentiment shared by the other Autobots? Is Bumblebee in fact fighting Unicron’s champion Nemesis Prime, at this point?

For the keen-eyed among you, early on in the trailer, we do get a short look at a three-headed dragon flying along a coastline. Those who saw the billboard artwork in March will recognize these heads belong to Scourge. Could this be his grand introduction to live action Transformers franchise?

Let’s not forget about the Decepticons. Even though there isn’t anything shown so far, expect to see Megatron return in his new body as Galvatron and with the Decepticons behind him, they will most assuredly return to reek havoc on Earth and the Autobots.

Ultimately, the new trailer shows us some potentially epic scenes, but we still only really have conjecture and speculation about what to expect from the latest addition to the franchise. What we can be sure about is that, with Michael Bay in the director’s chair, (and announced as directing a further two Transformers films) carnage, mayhem and badassery are going to be high on the menu.

Transformers: The Last Knight will be in Cinemas 23rd June 2017