Autobots are about to roll out on digital platforms this week in Transformers One and Collider is excited to share an exclusive behind-the-scenes sneak peek at the voice behind their fearless leader, Optimus Prime. In the run-up to the Industrial Light and Magic film’s release, one of the big questions was what Chris Hemsworth would bring to the role that, for years, has been primarily played by the legendary Peter Cullen. He voices a Prime who has yet to receive the Matrix of Leadership and still goes under the name Orion Pax as the film tracks his journey from a lowly mining bot to a respected Cybertronian. A new featurette now looks at Hemsworth’s process of finding an ever-evolving voice that shows his growth into the iconic bot fans know and love.
Although it’s hard to imagine Prime without Cullen’s powerful voice, Hemsworth wanted to avoid mimicking his work. He opens the featurette explaining how the goal was to give Orion Pax a looser feel and a different vocal quality that better fits his younger, less-experienced self. That said, it was also important to always have a little element of Cullen’s delivery to ensure that they didn’t feel like completely different characters. Franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura previously told Collider that, when picking Hemsworth for the part, they wanted a voice that sounded as if it could reasonably morph into Cullen’s with time. Beyond how he sounds, director Josh Cooley also credits Hemsworth with improvising how Orion acts, cracking jokes, and making him feel more laidback than the dutiful Prime.
Transformers One is set on Cybertron before the war between Autobots and Decepticons breaks out and before Optimus Prime and Megatron become mortal enemies. As energon miners without cogs, the young Orion Pax and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) set out to try and become something more and inadvertently become entangled in the complex alliances, betrayals, and social structures that make up their planet. Both bots evolve throughout their journey as they become aware of the corruption their society is built on, ultimately creating a rift between them as their perspectives divert. Scarlett Johansson and Keegan-Michael Key join them as Elita and Bumblebee with Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm among others rounding out the cast.
‘Transformers One’ Is Made By Its Central Friendship
Though it hasn’t been the financial hit hoped for by Paramount, reviews for the Transformers origin story have been widely positive, with Collider’s Jeff Ewing among those singing its praises. In his 8/10 review, he said, “Transformers One is a film that will add complexity and new emotion to the characters and factions that franchise fans love while having enough dramatic heft for unfamiliar, new audiences alike.” The draw of the film is the evolving dynamic between a younger and more innocent Optimus and Megatron, taking inspiration from biblical epics as their relationship deteriorates. In an interview with Collider’s Mike Thomas, Hemsworth shared that the very human friendship between the pair was a big reason why he signed onto the film.
“Well, that’s what really attracted me to wanna be a part of this film was we’ve only ever known them as [Optimus Prime and Megatron], as mortal enemies and to be able to go back and see them as friends, as brothers as, as the best of mates; and then to kind of that the tragedy of that departure and friendship unfold was a lot of fun.
And you get to see the human version of these, these robots, you know, which, which I don’t think we’ve sort of seen to this extent before and to see that they’d have a sense of humor. There’s a recklessness and a cheekiness. A spontaneity and a sense of joy and fun adventure, and so on within both of them before it all goes tragically wrong.”
Transformers One hits digital platforms on October 25. Check out our exclusive sneak peek
Transformers One explores the origins of the iconic Autobots and Decepticons on their home planet of Cybertron. Set against a complex backdrop of alliances and betrayals, the film delves into the formative events and key figures that shaped these legendary factions, leading to their epic conflict.
- Release Date
- September 20, 2024
- Director
- Josh Cooley
- Cast
- Chris Hemsworth , Brian Tyree Henry , Scarlett Johansson , keegan-michael key , Steve Buscemi , Laurence Fishburne , Jon Hamm , Vanessa Liguori , Jon Bailey , Jason Konopisos-Alvarez , Evan Michael Lee , James Remar , Isaac C. Singleton Jr. , Steve Blum , Jinny Chung , Josh Cooley , Dillon Bryan
- Runtime
- 104 Minutes
