I'd rather not take away a job from an actual voice actor, especially just to get a subpar "performance"
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- Thread starter Undead Scottsman
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I don't know if GI Joe can make it without the help, honestly.
I think it's still worth another try. Just shove Snake Eyes into the background where he belongs and let Cobra Commander be the brand mascot he knows he deserves to be. Let the public know it's going to be basically a comic book movie with military elements, not a military action movie with ninjas. There is a difference.
The biggest problem with trying to do a GI Joe movie is that it's very 'MURRICA-coded, which, for a variety of reasons, is not very popular around the world right now.
I eagerly await all the click bait in 2028 bemoaning how “They ruined GI Joe by making it woke!”. Y’know, the franchise written by an Asian-American veteran with its ethnically and culturally diverse cast which includes a former gang member, a bayou tough guy, a former model, and a ninja with a significant disability.
I don't either, not without a huge overhaul and a lot of things lining up for it. Especially now when even really solid movies don't get the heat they deserve.
But whether it does or it doesn't, I'd rather they not make Transformers a crutch for it. It won't make GI Joe better, it'll make Transformers worse. And all for nothing more than fanservice.
I think it would be wrong to replace Cullen's voice with a AI voice, it would likely end up with no passion or heart behind it, so using someone else would be the best option, but direct them to do their version of Optimus, not try and mimic Cullen's voice, thou honestly, when they or if they do, hopefully, they don't pick some random so called Star whose ego is far beyond sane, there's enough of those already around and I rather not see them screw things up for people and drag the brand into stuff it has no business being involved in!
I genuinely don't see them doing an AI Cullen voice. The outrage from the fandom would be so white hot it would leave any project dead in the water. And given how TF movies have struggled to find an audience lately, they can't really afford to alienate the few people who are still willing to see them.
This recasting thing bugs me. Because it’s not like we haven’t been seeing this crap for longer than most of us have been alive. By the time I was born, we were on the third James Bond actor. By 1989, we’d had three different live action Batman actors (and at least as many vocal performers). Harry Potter went through, what 2 or 3 different actors playing Dumbledore?
Hell, by the time of the first live action film, we’d already gotten 3 different actors voicing Optimus Prime in the cartoons. I’m not saying “Let’s AI this stuff up!”, but I’m a bit at a lost as the fuss over the idea a new actor playing Optimus Prime in the live action films.
Hell, by the time of the first live action film, we’d already gotten 3 different actors voicing Optimus Prime in the cartoons. I’m not saying “Let’s AI this stuff up!”, but I’m a bit at a lost as the fuss over the idea a new actor playing Optimus Prime in the live action films.
I agree.
Look, we all appreciated the heck out of Peter Cullen and we're going to miss him but the people going "we need to retire Optimus Prime now that he's dead" are just... something else. He didn't even have a monopoly on the role while he was alive and active in the industry. It's ok if the role is recast now that he's gone.
I just don't envy the casting director who has to figure this one out.
While the movie didn't do well, I don't recall anyone specifically making a big stink about Hemsworth voicing Prime in TF One.
The one common complaint seemed to be that he got a bit stilted once he became Optimus and was trying to affect a Cullen-like delivery.
Still, one imagines that if he were to get more chances to voice the character that he'd settle into the role and make it his own. New Bond actors are always a bit stiff in it their first time out too.
I'm talking about people opposed to the idea that he was voicing the character at all, not a critique about a particular part of the performance.
It's the weird situation of pre-and post-death of a respected icon.
I think everyone knew that as Cullen got older he needed to step down from the role for some projects and that it was ok if different projects went for someone else. That Neil Kaplan and Gary Chalk also existed did help with that. And honestly? Deep down most people accepted Peter wasn't long for this world by a certain point and it would be smart if Hasbro started cultivating different options once he was no longer with us.
But once he passed on, it affected some people in a way where a switch flipped and suddenly "we should retire the role of Optimus in his memory."
What was once fine in the abstract became very real and they took that position.
And the thing is I get the sentiment of wanting to honour Peter Cullen... but I think retiring Optimus is just ridiculous. I don't think anyone here has pushed that but it was a sentiment pushed by some loud folk across the internet. It seems to have dissipated, but I suspect it'll crop up again when the next live action movie casting is announced.
It's going to be especially rough if Bay's return is the next movie and it's at least nominally connected to his previous films. It's not G1, but it was a specifically Cullen Optimus and I can see people being upset that a version of the character that was specifically Cullen's was recast... even if it's been recast for the most understandable of reasons.
Like CoffeeHorse said, I don't envy whoever has to make that casting decision.
Eh, we’ve had other Optimus VAs before. Once the fandom collectively reaches the Acceptance stage, it’s gonna be a non-issue. Unless the next film is a direct continuation of TLK but then again, Bay had Bumblebee speak at the end of the first film only to revert to radiospeak with no acknowledgment by anyone. Optimus could just show up with a new voice out of nowhere and everybody acts like nothing’s different
It wouldn't even be the weirdest continuity question in the Bayverse.
I'm not as big a Superman fan as I am a Transformers fan, so I don't follow the trends and happenings in the DC fandom, but when Christopher Reeve passed away, were there any people saying that Superman should be retired in his honor? Because that's what the suggestion of doing so with Optimus feels like, which would be even more of a tall order considering just how much bigger and way more famous Superman is compared to Optimus Prime.