Mirage has appeared in the live-action “Transformers” movies before… sort of. The third film “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” featured a red-and-black Autobot who transformed into a Ferrari 458 Italia. In the movie itself, he’s referred to as Dino, named after Dino Ferrari.
However, it’s believed he was originally meant to be Mirage — the tie-in novelization, comic book, and video game all named him as such. The game even included a nod to “Generation 1” Mirage. In it, all the playable characters have special abilities — Mirage’s ability is cloaking, which the player can use to sneak past enemies if they prefer stealth over fighting.
There was no official word from the production, but rumors state that it went back to merchandising, the usual explanation for any decisions made about “Transformers.” In 2011, when “Dark of the Moon” came out, Hasbro competitor Mattel had exclusive rights to Ferrari toys. Ergo, Hasbro didn’t want one of their trademarked characters to be used in advertising a competitor.
In any case, Dino doesn’t have much in common with the classic Mirage. And in an interview with Collider, director Michael Bay also expressed indifference about character names for the Transformers. That lack of interest definitely manifests onscreen.