‘‘Bumblebee’ Spin-Off Casts ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Actor Jorge Lendeborg Jr. As Male Lead
TheBumblebeemovie has found its male lead — who isn’t a yellow Autobot.
TheTransformersspin-off has castJorge Lendeborg Jr., who recently appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movieSpider-Man: Homecoming, as the lead alongsideHailee Steinfeld, who will star as a tomboy mechanic who bonds with Bumblebee.
Lendeborg Jr. is in talks to play an unnamed young male lead inTransformers Universe:Bumblebee, according toThe Hollywood Reporter, injecting some promising diversity into the film (Steinfeld herself is half Filipino).
THR calls Lendeborg Jr. a “rising star” who made his feature debut in the indie dramaThe Land, and will next appear in Robert Rodriguez’sAlita: Battle Angeland YA projectSimon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agendaat Fox 2000. He played Jason inSpider-Man: Homecoming, and no, I don’t remember that character, either.
With the casting of Lendeborg Jr. and the promise of Steinfeld as the first female lead in aTransformersmovie, it seems like theBumblebeespin-off is miles ahead of any of the fiveTransformersfilms in terms of representation. With the exception ofTransformers: The Last Knight, which featured Peruvian-American actress Isabela Moner in a supporting role, mostTransformersmovies have had predominantly white, male casts — with a revolving door of brunette or blonde female characters.
I’ll admit that I hold a certain disdain for theTransformersmovies, having only seen the first one and falling asleep in the second one, but I am almost looking forward to thisBumblebeespin-off. With a cast led by an Academy Award nominee and pop singer (Steinfeld is an underrated talent!), a script written byChristina Hodson(Shut In) andhelmed byKubo and the Two StringsdirectorTravis Knight,Bumblebeemay not actually turn out badly.
However, it’s yet to be seen whether the film will live up toTransformersproducer Lorenzo di Bonaventura’s enthusiastic promisesthatBumblebeewill be a tearjerker akin to the animated classicThe Iron Giant.
Plot details are still being kept under a tight lid, but we know thatTransformers Universe: Bumblebeewilltake place in the 1980s, and be follow the fun-loving black and yellow Autobot’s adventures before the events of the firstTransformers. Steinfeld is a tomboy who works as a mechanic after school, which leads to her meeting Bumblebee. Lendeborg will likely be her love interest, with their roles sounding eerily similar to those of Shia LaBeouf and mechanically-minded Megan Fox inTransformers— though hopefully he won’t imitate LaBeouf’s tiring, high-energy performance. That’s so 2007.
