Think about it:

New director... which will bring a new and different look, pace and feel. Possibly even a slight re-model of the TF's themselves.
Possibly even a new composer for the score.

No Shia- so a new focus, with new and different direction.

A great number of characters gone- so new characters.

Sure, they might keep in the same "continuity", but it aint gonna be the same. Just look at the new POTC film: it's considered a "reboot".

 

Excellent points.

 

Reboot or new story in the same universe though. They could re-do some of the character models for the autobots and give us a new overarching Decepticon baddie for TF4 and TF5 and still have be in continuity. I hope that with Bay gone they're be more of a human feel to some of the faces, as several character's faces in the movies just sucked.

Also, the latest POTC film was a "reboot"?

 

Good point...

 

I want Cy-Kill as the next villain.

WHOOPS! Wrong forum.

 

If Bay doesn’t come back, then yes, it very possibly could act as both sequel and a reboot. However, I actually really think there’s more than a shred of truth to all the current stories. Even Bay’s denial wasn’t really a proper denial. He didn’t say I’m done with Transformers or anything like that, he just said he’s going to shoot Pain & Gain next, which he emphasised to have a very quick shoot.

I personally hope he's done directing Transformers films. We've already had three Michael Bay Transformers films. I would like to see what another director can bring to the same universe. I wouldn't mind at all if Bay stayed on as producer, though, which is probably what would happen if he didn't come back to direct. I just think he will......

 

I fully agree with a need for TF4 to be reboot

 

Even if Bay doesn't come back for the next film, I really don't see extreme changes in existing character designs and I doubt new characters will be much different than what has come before. Also I don't see why people would think a change of director means better, or even more G1 designs. It might end up going the other way and lead to more radical designs people hate even worse than the Bay designs

 

I'd like everything on here, but not the "reboot" part. I think this still can all be possible with a sequel/trilogy.

 

...On Stranger Tides is a reboot?  

 

that's even if there is a transformers 4

 

By who is it considered a reboot? Not by anyone in the industry, nor by anyone I know. The latest POTC is number #4 in the series.

I get what you're saying, but I think you're confusing the term "reboot" (which is used way too frequently these days for film series anyway). Yes, there'll be a shift in direction - both story-wise and tonally - but it won't be a reboot in that case; just a progression.

 

This^

Directors I wouldn't mind directing TRANSFORMERS:

Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Clint Eastwood, Riddley Scott, George Lucas, James Cameron, or John Milius.


Directors I woudn't want near TRANSFORMERS:

Uwe Boll, Guillermo del Toro, Tim Burton, Roland Emmerich, Paul W.S. Anderson, Jan de Bont, Paul Hunter, Brett Ratner, Brian Singer, J. J. Abrams, Mel Gibson, Peter Jackson, Quentin Tarantino, Roman Polanski, Barry Sonnenfeld, Robert Rodriguez, John Landis, the Wachovski brothers, Spike Lee, Christopher Nolan, or David Fincher.

 

I love George Lucas's Star Wars. But that is where he should stay. He ruined Indiana Jones 4 by adding aliens in it. Maybe if Spielberg did this by himself...

 

I agree. I don’t see POTC 4 so much as a reboot, as appose to the start of a new chapter. An example of a proper reboot would be the new Incredible Hulk film, as well as the new Spider-Man film. And let’s not forget the mother of all reboots, Batman Begins. Basically, a proper reboot is wiping the slate clean and starting all over again. A sort of remake, although Hollywood now shy’s away from using that term. Even if Bay doesn’t come back, we’ve already been told that we’re not going to get that.

However, if they start TF4 off a few years after DOTM, merely acknowledging it and then quickly moving off in a different direction, there’s no reason why it won’t be able to act as both a sequel and a reboot at the same time. This is what I think we'll get, either with or without Bay in the director's chair. I think that's what the OP meant about POTC 4. In that case, he's sort of right.

 

OMG they have already said it won't be a reboot, why yet another thread on it being a reboot this is like the third one today, take a look bellpeppers!!

 

Don Murphy is only one of the producers . . . no official word yet sweetpotato!!  

 

Spielberg should do it.

I don't know why he just chose to produce it and not direct it?

 

I'd call it more of a "re-launch"

 

That new Pirates movie is considered a reboot? Since when? I've never heard anyone call it a reboot ever.

If it's the same continuity and probably the same art direction, it's not a reboot.