Michael Bay Addresses TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT Nazi Controversy, Mark Wahlberg Talks Mini-Dinobots

There's a bizarre controversy brewing surrounding the latest Transformers movie involving Nazis and Winston Churchill.

Michael Bay's Transformers: The Last Knight came under fire from veterans when Bay and his production team hung Nazi flags on the childhood home of Churchill, who was the U.K. Prime Minister during World War II. Bay addressed the controversy in an interview with the BBC on Friday, saying:

“I just want to say, people were not fortunate enough to read the script, and they don’t know that Churchill in this movie is a big hero. And Churchill would be smiling about Last Knight. They haven’t seen the movie, they don’t know the ending, and they don’t know how Churchill is a hero in this movie. So, as the staff said, ‘He’d be smiling right now.’

When you see the movie, you’ll understand. I for one, probably more than any director in the world, have shot more veterans and more active military men and women in my movies. I would do nothing to disrespect veterans.”

My guess is there will be a clear story reason for those flags to be there. Whether or not that justifies it, or whether the movie will be considered good enough for this to be worthwhile, remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, star Mark Wahlberg took to Facebook in a video recently and confirmed that not only will there be Dinobots in the film, but mini-Dinobots as well (via ComingSoon):

"It’s a cool new story. It’s kind of like a man on the run. Sir Anthony Hopkins is also in the film, got a cool new cast and cool new robots, some cool new villains and some cool new Dinobots. I think you guys are gonna really go crazy for the mini Dinobots."

Will they be racist caricatures like Revenge of the Fallen's Mudflap and Skids, nonsensical afterthoughts like the Dinobots from Age of Extinction, or actual characters this time? That, too, remains to be seen. We'll find out when The Last Knight blasts into theaters on June 23, 2017.