After starring in the first three movies in the massive franchise at Sam Witwicky, there are still questions as to why Shia LeBeouf left Transformers. Sam was the human hero who fought alongside Optimus Prime and the Autobots in Michael Bay's first three movies in the series. The Transformers films are still among LaBeouf's best performances at the box office — but the movie's commercial success was not enough to keep him interested in returning to the franchise. Sam does not feature in the later sequels, which naturally raised plenty of questions as to where the character had ended up.

The sudden disappearance of LeBeouf from the Transformers franchise was hard to ignore as he had gone from the main character in the series to only being briefly alluded to in Transformers 5 — and even then, only to suggest Sam Witwicky died off-screen sometime between the films. However, LaBeouf's departure from Transformers was already hinted at long before the fourth movie. While promoting Dark of The Moon, LaBeouf confirmed (via MTV) that he was leaving the franchise, saying "I just don't think there's anywhere to take it with Sam."

LaBeouf Thought The Transformers Movies Lacked Purpose

The Franchise Has Moved On Following LeBeouf's Departure

Along with suggesting his character had run his course, Shia LeBeouf left the Transformers franchise because he felt they were "irrelevant" (via Esquire) compared to more grounded stories. LaBeouf's acting credits following his departure from Transformers 4 prove that he is motivated to be part of more relatable stories that do not rely on CGI effects and roles that grant him creative freedom, such as his performance in the acclaimed Honey Boy.

As for Transformers, the franchise has continued to be a success without LaBeouf. Transformers 4, the series' highest-grossing film, replaces Sam with Mark Wahlberg's Cade Yeager. Wahlberg has also since left the franchise leading to several spinoff movies taking place earlier in the Transformers timeline with Bumblebee and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. The franchise also tried something new in 2024 with the animated adventure Transformers One. This will also be followed by the confirmed Transformers 8 and Transformers 9.

While he didn't appear in Transformers 4, given Shia LaBeouf's star power and his importance to the series, he's not entirely out of the running for future installments — though the franchise would have to qualify why he isn't dead should he appear any time after Transformers 5.

Wahlberg's Cade Yeager vs. LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky: Who's Better?

The Human Characters Were Never A Big Draw In Transformers Movies

Ultimately, the complaints Yeager was the same as Sam Witwicky, but older, held weight...

Both the Shia LeBeouf and Mark Wahlberg Transformers characters have strengths and weaknesses making for a debate among fans as to which is the better human hero in the Transformers universe. A key criticism of the Transformers franchise is its lack of intelligent and dynamic female characters, as well as Witwicky and Yeager's treatment of them.

After the first Transformers, the quality of the writing took a downward turn according to critics, adding legitimacy to LaBeouf's excuse for leaving. While Sam Witwicky was a great character, he was worse whenever he had a love interest. Starting in Transformers 2, Witwicky became more arrogant and more inclined to take people for granted, especially when it came to his treatment of Carly.

Cade Yeager faced similar problems in his treatment of his daughter, who spends most of Transformers 4: Age of Extinction occupying a damsel-in-distress role. His character did manage to poke fun at Witwicky's machismo as displayed in the previous three movies, but it wasn't really enough to strike up a favorable comparison.

Ultimately, the complaints Yeager was the same as Sam Witwicky, but older, held weight – the main Transformers movies never had a lead to match the stature and impact of the Autobots, and neither Witwicky nor Yeager had the long-term charisma the franchise needed. Shia LaBeouf was justified in making good his escape from the character and franchise.

Could Shia LeBeouf Ever Return To Transformers?

Allegations Against LeBeouf Has Put His Career In Question

Along with LeBeouf's own desires to distance himself from the Transformers franchise, the actor has since had his career sidelined due to allegations of sexual battery and assault by FKA Twigs. Though he has some acting roles on the horizon, including Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, it is hard to see LaBeouf return to any big-budget franchise. There is also the problem that LeBeouf has nothing but bad memories of the entire time in the franchise.

LeBeouf was 20 when he ed the Transformers franchise, and he has since revealed the downside to appearing in a franchise this large. When picked to star in the role, LeBeouf had some smaller roles in his past and a successful TV show, but he has since said he was plagued by insecurity since he earned that role.

This is because, while the movies were hugely successful, they also had detractors and many of them focused on LeBeouf, who said that he took the complaints that he was a bad blockbuster actor personally. He said he was trying to find his confidence and skill set, and the Transformers movies made it very hard.

"I was 23, 24. I was a scared actor who thought he was sh*t. The world thought I was sh*t. It was sort of like, ‘Hey, he’s the Transformers kid trying to be a real actor over here.’ So I was bucking against my insecurity, I was desperate to prove myself."

However, the door is not closed on Michael Bay returning to the franchise in the future for a different direction, possibly taking his series of movies and moving them forward. LaBeouf has even said he loves working with Bay and would return to anything he wanted to do, but he doesn't see it going anywhere with Sam (via The Guardian). As such, the likelihood of seeing LeBeouf return to the Transformers franchise that made him a superstar seems minimal.

Transformers Has Been A Mixed Bag Without Sam

But The Franchise Can Work Without Sam

While some would argue that the human element is not part of the draw in Transformers movies, others would argue the live-action movies need the human element to counteract all of the Transformer battles and action. The movies that have been released without Sam Witwicky have proven to be a mixed bag, so it is unclear just which camp of Transformers fans is in the right.

Following Sam’s exit from the movies, the Transformers movies featured Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yaeger for two of the live-action installments, and then two more movies with almost entirely new casts. Critical responses to the movies have largely been mixed as well, though all of the movies have continued to earn high dollar amounts at the box office.

Paradoxically, Transformers: The Last Knight is one of the higher-earners (and highest budget) of the franchise so far, but it’s also the least critically acclaimed. It has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of the franchise, which gathers critical consensus. Many critics called it sloppy with Rolling Stone mentioning, “Every time Michael Bay directs another Transformers abomination (this is the fifth), the movies die a little.” Their review even referenced it as 2017’s “most toxic movie.”

Also surprisingly, one of the most critically acclaimed of the bunch is Bumblebee, but it was almost the lowest performing at the box office. Variety even called it, “the movie that fans of the 1980s animated series wanted all along.” The gap between reviews and box office may be due to the fact that the movie focused on the friendship that developed between Bumblebee and Hailee Steinfeld’s Charlie Watson, acting as a prequel to the other movies, instead of embracing the spectacle of the other entries in the franchise.

Of course, the release of Transformers One in 2024 also demonstrates that there is still a deep love for the animated version of the movies and that the live-action franchise might need a bit of a break. The movie grossed nearly $130 million at the box office, which might not sound like a lot for a Transformers project, but it did it against a $75 million budget and with much less marketing than the live-action versions receive. It was also better received by critics than its live-action counterparts with The Hollywood Reporter believing it revitalized the franchise.

Fans have continued to lament that Sam, who started the franchise, did not get to continue into some of the later installments, but standalone features like Bumblebee and animated projects like Transformers One prove that the Transformers franchise can work without his character.