Transformers One promises to explore the epic rivalry between the Autobots and the Decepticons, with Avengers: Endgame star Chris Hemsworth tapped to play Optimus Prime. Eternals' Brian Tyree Henry, meanwhile, will lend his voice to the young Megatron in a story that will reveal how they went from friends to enemies.
Similar to how The Super Mario Bros. Movie swapped out longtime voice actors for big name stars, Transformers One will also feature Hollywood A-Listers Scarlett Johansson as Elita, Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion.
Doing the rounds to promote Extraction 2, Hemsworth was asked (via Toonado.com) about his approach to playing Optimus Prime and the fact he's following in the footsteps of the legendary Peter Cullen.
This is going to be a very different interpretation of the iconic Autobot, but could we, for example, hear Orion Pax use the Thor actor's natural Australian accent?
"No, I mean, we talked about this; the Optimus Prime that you hear on the screen in the films is an older, mature...you know, he’s been around for many, many, many, many years," Hemsworth explained. "This is the sort of origin story, so it's the younger version of him."
"So there are sort of hints and colorings that hopefully resonate enough with the Optimus Prime we know, but it is a youthful version of him, and different. But he won't be Australian."
He'd go on to share high praise for what he's seen from Transformers One (which is being animated by ILM) thus far. "It looks incredible. I love the script. That was one where I was not sure, I hadn't done animation before, and then I mentioned it to my kids, and they went, 'Oh yeah, that's awesome!'"
"It's been really fun putting down some of the dialogue and weaving it in with the early days of the animation. It's cool, it's exciting. It's Optimus Prime, come on!"
Toy Story 4's Josh Cooley is directing the film from a screenplay by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari. Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg is executive producing Transformers One alongside Brian Goldner, Brian Oliver, Bradley J. Fischer, and Valerii An.
Transformers One is set to be released in theaters on September 13, 2024.