Summary
- Transformers One director promises rich history callbacks with animated movie, featuring all-star voice cast.
- Movie will be full of Easter eggs from every generation of Transformers series, created with love by fans.
- Chris Hemsworth’s Optimus Prime brings a big change for established fans, breaking tradition with new character.
At San Diego Comic-Con, Transformers One director Josh Cooley promised the new animated movie will feature plenty of callbacks to the franchise’s rich history. Set to arrive in theaters on September 20, the latest Transformers movie is a prequel film that will explore the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron. The franchise’s first full-length animated feature since 1986’s Transformers: The Movie,Transformers One‘s all-star voice cast includes the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm.
Speaking with Screen Rant at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Cooley revealed that the movie will feature Easter eggs from practically every generation and iteration of the Transformers franchise, stretching as far back as the original 1984 television series. Suggesting that his animators were all fans of the property, many of them had sought to work hidden references into nearly every scene. Check out his comments below:
Every scene has something in it. My crew at Island and at Paramount, they are all fans. We’re all massive fans. We all grew up with it, every generation, every version. So there is an Easter egg probably from every single version of it, and it’s everywhere. There’s stuff I’m like, ‘Wait a second, what’s that character doing?’ And the animator’s like, “Oh, I thought I’d throw them in there.’ I was like, ‘Great, let’s do it.’ So there’s a lot of love that went into making this film.
Will Transformers One’s Biggest Deviation From Tradition Pay Off?
Chris Hemsworth’s Optimus Prime Will Be A Big Change For Established Fans
While long-term Transformers fans will likely be excited to hear about the way Transformers One will pay homage to the franchise’s rich history, the upcoming prequel has still made one glaring deviation from tradition. Throughout nearly every chapter in the franchise’s 40-year history, the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, has played a pivotal role. Moreover, in the vast majority of those installments, his character has also been voiced by the iconic Canadian voice actor, Peter Cullen.
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First landing the role in 1984’s The Transformers,Cullen’s voice has become synonymous with the role of Optimus Prime, despite the contributions of other voice actors who would each try their hand at the character. Moreover, while Michael Bay’s live action Transformers movies would find themselves repeatedly accused of deviating too much from the original cartoons, Cullen’s involvement still maintained a sense of continuity for the property’s oldest fans. As such, the decision to cast Hemsworth as Orion Pax, the character who would later come to be known as Optimus Prime, initially prompted some degree of backlash among prospective audiences.
Other actors to voice Optimus Prime include Neil Kaplan, Garry Chalk, David Kaye, Jon Bailey and Alan Tudyk.
However, Hemsworth’s Pax will be far from the regal and distinguished Autobot leader that audiences already know. While Cullen’s voice may be inseparable from Optimus Prime, the character Transformers One is set to introduce is a far more energetic and carefree robot, one unburdened with the weight of leadership and the lasting impacts of a devastating civil war. Whether this gamble will pay off remains to be seen, but having Cullen voice this iteration of the character would likely have been far too distracting.