For many Transformers fans, the voice of Optimus Prime will always be Peter Cullen, but in the new animated series Transformers: Earthspark, the role is being voiced by one of the industry’s chameleons, Alan Tudyk. Having appeared in over a hundred movies and TV shows, Tudyk’s latest role is one that initially left him in shock, as he was unaware that he had been cast in the iconic role of the Autobots leader in Paramount’s latest addition to the Transformers franchise.

Transformers: Earthspark announced its casting back in July 2022, with Tudyk’s Prime being joined by Danny Pudi as Bumblebee, Rory McCann as Megatron, and Diedrich Bader as Mandroid. The series will feature the arrival of a new group of Autobots born on Earth and brought into the Transformers story through established characters like Optimus Prime. While discussing his role with SFX Magazine, Tudyk noted that his initial reaction to playing the leader of the Autobots was one of disbelief. He said:

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“I got an email asking if I wanted to do it. I read it and my brain rejected the idea. I saw Prime and I was like, ‘Oh, right. There are other Primes… I’ll probably have like two lines an episode. I started working on it and saw that all the lines in the script that were highlighted were Optimus, and I freaked out. We really had a blast, I came in and worked on it, and we had a really good time. The first time I got to say ‘Autobots, roll out,’ I got chills, literally chills, and then they turned up the heat. And then we continued the session."

The Transformers Franchise Returns to Cinemas This Summer

     Paramount Pictures

This year is quite a big one for Transformers fans. As well as Transformers: Earthspark on Paramount+, the summer will see the return of the live-action movie series with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts hitting theaters on June 9.

Many of the Transformers franchise’s live-action movies have been huge box-office draws but have failed to receive consistent praise from critics. Bumblebee bucked this trend by delivering a strong narrative story that resulted in a movie that didn’t just rely on the action-packed visuals of the previous entries in the franchise. This time around, Rise of the Beasts director Steven Caple Jr hopes to follow in the same vein. He previously said:

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts opens on June 9 among a packed summer schedule of blockbuster movies.

“Definitely. I think you’ll feel the sense of a journey and expedition in this film. This go-around that connects all of those to what you’re saying. Terminator 2 is classic. The heaviness of the metal, if you will, all that stuff plays into it. So I think when you’re looking at our film and looking at sort of where we’re taking it, [we] kind of want to bring that classic expedition, that classic journey through New York and where we go from there.”