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‘Transformers’ and ‘Friday the 13th’ Share a Weird Universe Connection

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Michael Bay directed one and produced the other. But it goes deeper than that.

With Transformers: The Last Knight now out in theaters, I was reminded of something over the weekend that I had been meaning to look into for a while now. The latest Michael Bay-directed film is the fifth in the franchise that kicked off back in 2007, just two years before Bay’s Platinum Dunes remade Friday the 13th. But what do the two universes have in common, aside from Bay being creatively connected to both of them?

Oddly enough, actor Travis Van Winkle links the two in an unexpected way!

Van Winkle appeared in Transformers as Trent DeMarco, the character perfectly described on Wikipedia as “the stereotypical jock: he’s on the football team, has big arms and washboard abs, a sweet ride, a smokin’ hot girlfriend, and he hates nerds.” At the start of the film, DeMarco is the boyfriend of Megan Fox’s Mikaela Banes, though he’s dumped by her when she finally catches on that he’s, well, the biggest douche in school.

Trent exits the film after Mikaela leaves him.

Cut to two years later.

In the Friday the 13th remake, directed by Marcus Nispel, Travis Van Winkle plays one of the douchiest characters in the franchise’s history. He’s a self-obsessed asshole who ends up cheating on his girlfriend with her best friend. His character’s name? Trent, described as “a snobbish rich kid who loves to show off his wealth.”

And get this. As if it wasn’t already clear (he even drives virtually the same vehicle), IMDb notes that the character’s full name in Friday the 13th is, you guessed it, Trent DeMarco!

Yes, Travis Van Winkle played the same exact character in Friday the 13th as he did in Transformers; the horror remake reveals that Trent was killed by Jason Voorhees just a couple years after Mikaela dumped his sorry ass!

Now I’m not going to pretend that this means Jason Voorhees exists in the same universe as the Autobots and Decepticons, as it’s really just a fun connection between two Michael Bay films, but there is something undeniably amazing and amusing about a character we hated in Transformers being killed within the Friday the 13th universe.

That’s Jason for ya. Righting the world’s wrongs, one asshole at a time.

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

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SCREAMBOX Investigates UFOs and Extraterrestrials: Several Documentaries Streaming Right Now!

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As someone who is obsessed with UFOS (or more recently known as UAPs) and the concept of extraterrestrials, I love a good documentary. Sightings have been on the rise since the 1940s, with the atomic bomb seemingly acting as a catalyst for new visitors. But what are these UFOs/UAPs? Is there an explanation or are they simply beyond our explanation? Why are they here? Who are they? How much do our governments know? The questions are endless and so are the documentaries that attempt to uncover the secrets behind decades of sightings and alleged confrontations.

Whether you’re a seasoned viewer or new to the rabbit hole, there’s always a handful of interesting documentaries to get your neurons firing and leave you with sleepless nights. SCREAMBOX is investigating with the addition of several docs, all streaming now on the Bloody Disgusting-powered service. Here’s the breakdown:

Aliens (2021): Beam into this unidentified streaming documentary for a glimpse into Extraterrestrial life. Aliens are hypothetical life forms that may occur outside Earth or that did not originate on Earth.

Aliens Uncovered: Origins (2021): Before Area 51, hidden deep in the desert, the military discovered a hidden gem that helped them create Project Bluebook.

Aliens Uncovered: ET or Man-Made (2022): The crash of Roswell wasn’t meant for New Mexico. In 1947, a neighboring state had 3 major sightings that were swept under the rug.

Aliens Uncovered: The Golden Record (2023): In the late 70s, the US government launched a message to our distant neighbors.

Roswell (2021): This high-flying documentary examines the July 1947 crash of a United States Army Air Forces balloon at a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. Theories claim the crash was actually that of a flying saucer, but what is the truth?

Also check out:

The British UFO Files (2004): Since the 1940’s the British Government has been investigating the Flying Saucer phenomenon. High-ranking military and government personnel, speak out for the first time, offering unique eyewitness accounts and inside information.

Alien Abductions and Paranormal Sightings (2016): Amazing Footage and stories from real people as they reveal their personal encounters of being abducted by Aliens.

And do not miss Hellier (2019): A crew of paranormal researchers find themselves in a dying coal town, where a series of strange coincidences lead them to a decades-old mystery.

These documentaries join SCREAMBOX’s growing library of unique horror content, including Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, Here for Blood, Terrifier 2, RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop, Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, The Outwaters, Living with Chucky, Project Wolf Hunting, and Pennywise: The Story of IT.

Start screaming now with SCREAMBOX on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Prime Video, Roku, YouTube TV, Samsung, Comcast, Cox, and Screambox.com.

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