Transformers One producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura recently shared that he is excited for fans to hear Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Men in Black: International) as a younger Optimus Prime.
Will fans love Chris Hemsworth as Optimus Prime?
In an interview with Collider to promote Transformers: Rise of the Beasts — the latest live-action film in the fan-favorite franchise — Di Bonaventura praised Hemsworth’s voice acting chops and said that fans are in for a treat with the upcoming animated prequel.
“Also, it’s the imagination of our artists and our director, and one of the great things is, as you actually put the voices to the characters,” Di Bonaventura stated. “When we first listen to Chris Hemsworth’s voice, you’re like, ‘God, is he gonna be a good Optimus!’ Obviously, he starts as Orion Pax and you don’t become Optimus for a while, so he’s not playing, for most of the movie, what we think of as Optimus, Peter Cullen. So it’s that transition, and Chris’s voice has a timbre that… it’s logical that Peter Cullen would take over that voice, if you would, which is really great, the fans are gonna really feel great.”
Di Bonaventura also teased that Scarlett Johansson is “amazing” as the Autobot Elita in Transformers One. The rest of the voice cast for the upcoming animated film, which will be a Cybertron-set prequel to the Autobots’ adventures on Earth, includes Brian Tyree Henry as Megatron, Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion.
Transformers One has been in development at Paramount since 2015. Josh Cooley, best known for directing Pixar’s Toy Story 4, signed on to helm the feature in 2020. The screenplay was written by Josh Cooley, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari. Transformers One will be the first animated Transformers film since 1986’s Transformers: The Movie, which was a sequel to the original animated series.
Transformers One is scheduled to hit theaters on September 13, 2024.
