10 Iconic Movie Characters Weirdly REPLACED In Movie Sequels
8. Mikaela Banes - Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
As much as you might want to deny it, the visual of Sam Witwicky's (Shia LaBeouf) love interest Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) lithely leaning underneath the hood of Bumblebee is probably the single most iconic image in Michael Bay's entire Transformers franchise, which really says a lot.
Mikaela returned for the first sequel, Revenge of the Fallen, though was unceremoniously kicked to the curb for the threequel, Dark of the Moon, after she compared Bay to Adolf Hitler in interviews.
For anyone not following the controversy, though, Mikaela's sudden absence in Dark of the Moon sure was strange.
It's casually mentioned in a quick dialogue exchange that Mikaela ended up dumping Sam, all while a new love interest, Carly Spencer (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) is speedily transitioned in.
Fan response to Carly was wildly mixed, many feeling that the more tomboy-ish Mikaela was a better fit for a franchise centered around cars, while the more stereotypically "girly" Carly - who spends most of the film helplessly caught in the middle of the action - was a poor substitute.
All in all it's hilariously obvious that the role of Carly was originally written for Mikaela and simply re-jigged to fit a new character, and Carly's chemistry with Sam just didn't quite measure up to his more fiery dynamic with Mikaela.
It didn't really matter, though, as Sam was himself jettisoned from the franchise in the next sequel, Age of Extinction, where he was replaced with older lead Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg).