Transformers: The Last Knight Has A Hilarious Connection To Downton Abbey
You would be hard pressed to find two pieces of media as dissimilar as Michael Bay's action blockbuster "Transformers: The Last Knight" and Julian Fellowes' period drama series "Downton Abbey." The latter follows the upper-class Crawley family as they weather the instability of a post-Edwardian England in their sprawling estate, the eponymous Downton Abbey. Much of the series is focused on (among other questionable things we ignore) the disparity between these wealthy aristocrats and their servants, and as such, the entirety of the Downton Abbey estate is quite literally filled with drama from top to bottom.
In contrast, "Transformers: The Last Knight" serves as the fifth installment of the explosion-rich "Transformers" film franchise and follows Optimus Prime's (voiced by Peter Cullen) efforts to recover the legendary staff of Merlin (Stanley Tucci) after Optimus becomes brainwashed and converted into the malevolent Nemesis Prime. At first glance, the only fleeting connection between these two projects is that they both focus on English history; and even then, one is about World War I era Britain, and the other is primarily focused on an alternate version of Arthurian legend. That said, there is actually one very significant link between the two projects — one which, once you know about it, is actually extremely funny.
Jim Carter plays a butler in both projects
In "Transformers: The Last Knight," we're introduced to a scrappy robotic butler named Cogman, who beats up Cade Yaeger (Mark Wahlberg) in an elevator mere moments after he is introduced. The character is voiced by none other than Jim Carter. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Jim Carter also plays Mr. Carson, the butler on "Downton Abbey."
In contrast to the volatile robot butler Cogman, Mr. Carson has an affectionate, cordial personality, and often treats the servants at Downton as though they were his own children. Watching Cogman laugh as he punches Cade in the stomach and forces him through a window, it seems impossible that he and the respectable Mr. Carson could be played by the same actor — and makes this small connection all the more hilarious.
The only real similarity between the two is their immense dedication to their employers, that being the esteemed Crawley family in Carson's case, and Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins) in "Transformers: The Last Knight." Although at the end of the day, Cogman's role in the film is relatively minor, it's still undeniably hysterical that this violent butler is played by Downton's Mr. Carson.