Internet Rumors May Get Michael Bay To Put Mark Wahlberg In 'Transformers 4' After All

You may recall recently that Mark Wahlberg was rumored for a big role in Michael Bay's Transformers 4. While Bay quickly killed the rumor, saying that he and Wahlberg were developing a different film together after working in tandem on Bay's Pain and Gain, now there's life to the story once again. And the new energy comes directly from Bay, who says that "internet chatter" gave him some ideas about putting Wahlberg in the fourth giant robot movie.

Here's Bay's statement, from his own site, which also provides the photo above:

I squashed a rumor that was on the internet last week. It was about Mark Walhberg. Mark was rumored to be staring in Transformers 4. We are working on another movie together, not T4. I had such a great time working with Mark on Pain and Gain, and he gave such a great performance – well let's say that very internet chatter gave me some ideas. We are at the inception of our story process right now on T4. Let's say some ideas are gaining traction with me and my writer – so I'm here to say thanks internet chatter.

So was Wahlberg set for T4 all along, and Bay is just crafting a good story around how the rumor turned into a legit development, or is this really a new thing? The latter option is a lot more fun, and will almost certainly drive even more dialogue or suggestion Bay's way with respect to development of the fourth film. Bay doesn't need to be told that acknowledging that fandom influences creative work is a tricky game, but by admitting (whether in jest or not) that rumor has fueled part of the film, he's closing the gap between the fan and creator camps.

Transformers 4 is set for June 27, 2014.