Before director Michael Bay and star Mark Wahlberg exit the Transformers universe, new series star Isabela Moner is promising fans one final thrill ride.

“Transformers: The Last Knight is a different kind of movie,” Moner says down the line from Los Angeles. “Michael’s the best at this kind of stuff.”

The Last Knight – the fifth instalment in the long-running series – will mark Bay’s last time in the director’s chair for a Transformers film.

Wahlberg also announced on the Graham Norton Show recently that he is leaving the world of battling bots behind. “This is the last one,” he said. “This is the last Transformers. Michael Bay has vowed that this is it. So I get my life back.”

But with as many as 14 films in the works, including a variety of sequels, prequels and spinoffs, the franchise has a long cinematic future ahead. Next year’s 1980s-set Bumblebee will star Oscar-nominee Hailee Steinfeld.

“It’s Michael Bay’s last Transformers movie, so he’s hired new writers (Art Marcum, Matt Holloway and Ken Nolan), he’s hired real Navy SEALs — he likes to be authentic,” Moner says. “So you can expect that, as well as some really beautiful people.”

What about explosions?

“I guess more explosions, too, right?” the 15-year-old says with a laugh. “You can expect a lot more explosions.”

Moner plays Izabella, one of several new additions to the Transformers story, which also includes original trilogy star Josh Duhamel.

Humans and Transformers are at war in the new film, which takes us back to medieval times. Saving Earth falls to Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg); Bumblebee; an English Lord (Sir Anthony Hopkins); an Oxford professor (Laura Haddock); and a tomboy (Moner’s Izabella).

“I lose my parents in the Battle of Chicago in Dark of the Moon,” she explains. “I’m an orphan now living in the post-war zone. I live with the Autobots and they protect me and we hide from the government TRF (Transformers Reaction Force), who are against Transformers being on this Earth. I’m hiding out there and one day things get out of hand and Cade comes along and I meet him and we have this encounter. Cade is kind of a legend. He saves Autobots and I’m a mechanic, I fix Transformers. I see what he stands for, and then I want to join him and fight alongside him.”

Ahead of the film’s world premiere in China, Moner told us how Wahlberg scared off potential boyfriends on the set, revealed her favourite Transformer and hinted at how The Last Knight might be the darkest Transformers movie yet.

Michael filmed The Last Knight entirely in Imax 3D. What kind of action can we expect?

The action scenes are way more intense... I really didn’t know what to expect. I thought [Michael Bay] would do some explosions, but he really likes to do as much as he can without actually having to put the Transformers in there. I had to train for a month just to be able to outrun the explosions.

Is The Last Night the darkest Transformers movie so far?

It definitely dives a lot deeper into the Transformers origin story and where they come from. A lot of the fans of the TV show in the ‘80s are going to see that. It’s more Cybertron based as well. You get to see the Transformers’ home world and get inside Optimus Prime’s mind as he’s dealing with conflict himself. But I think it covers darker topics. It’s an unexpected storyline, definitely. It’s about fighting for your world and not leaving anyone behind. It includes everyone.

What is it like working with Mark?

He’s like a father figure to me. He’s constantly looking out for me. It’s kind of funny, I would bring like my guy friends to set and he would always be so suspicious. He’d be like, ‘Is that your boyfriend?’ And he’d look at them in a mean kind of way [laughs]. My dad is the same way. He does not want me to have a boyfriend. He’s like, ‘Boys are bad for you.’

The Transformers have been around for decades. What’s the appeal?

I think there’s some secret ingredient, whether it’s the bond between the humans and the Transformers or Michael Bay’s style of filming. He likes to shoot at the golden hour when everything’s beautiful and the sun is about to go down. I love that.

Who was your favourite Transformer growing up?

I want to say Bumblebee because he’s super funny, but you know what, I was a huge fan of the Decepticons when I watched the first movie in 2007. They were so cool and scary.

Tell us about your audition.

I filmed it in our living room. I took out a camera, had it on the tripod, and self-taped three scenes. Michael Bay was about to cast someone a bit older and then decided after seeing me he wanted a real kid. He also liked my sassiness. He called me a mini J.Lo.

You’re not old enough to drive in real life, but do you get behind the wheel in The Last Knight?

I wish [laughs]. Hopefully I will get to drive one of the Transformers cars at some point.

So how do you follow up Transformers?

I filmed the Sicario sequel Soldado with Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin. That was cool. I play the female lead. I’m the bad guy’s daughter.

Seems like you had fun on The Last Knight, will Izabella be back for Transformers 6?

I would love to be in the sequel. This movie has been great. If only Michael Bay was continuing to do them!

Transformers: The Last Knight opens Wednesday, June 21.

Twitter: @markhdaniell

MDaniell@postmedia.com