Chris Hemsworth is set to portray a young Optimus Prime in the upcoming animated Transformers One, a role that he says won’t feature his actual Australian accent.
Speaking to Collider, Hemsworth was asked about how he is approaching playing the iconic leader of the Autobots. Hemsworth said that the version of Optimus Prime people often hear is an older, more mature one, and that since this is an origin story of sorts, there will be hints of that in there, but just without Hemsworth’s real-life 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,” said Hemswroth. “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.”
What is Transformers One about?
The animated Transformers movie is set to be an origin story for the rivalry between the Autobots and Decepticons. The Transformers One cast includes Hemsworth as a young Optimus Prime, Brian Tyree Henry as a young Megatron, Scarlett Johansson as Elita, Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion.
While not too much is known about the movie, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura recently opened up on what to expect from it. According to di Bonaventura, the project will actually focus on the origins of a young Megatron and young Optimus Prime, as the two start out as friends before ending up on rival sides of the battlefield. The reason for covering this in an animated film, he says, is because it was simply “financially impossible” to do in a live-action format.
The movie 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.
