Garry Chalk, the veteran voice actor who provided the voice of Optimus Primal in Beast Wars, was less than enthusiastic about the vocal performances given in Netflix’s new Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy.
According to Facebook posts screenshotted by Transformers news outlet Seibertron.com, Chalk first reacted to the show writing, “Ok I watched the first episode of the new transformers on Netflix …….. um…”
He then stated, “Everyone tries to sound like a tough guy and as a result they all have the same pace and delivery.”
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“Visually it’s pretty good but I am sorry the voices were kind of low energy,” he added.
Chalk, who also provided the voice of Optimus Prime in the ‘Unicron Trilogy,’ which consists of Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon, and Transformers: Cybertron, is not the only notable Optimus voice actor to have taken issue with the new Rooster Teeth-produced series.
During a panel at the 2020 Galaxycon Richmond prior to the mass of event shutdowns due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, original and iconic Optimus Prime voice actor Peter Cullen, who provided the character’s voice in the original television series and in Michael Bay’s cinematic universe, explained that he was being replaced due to Netflix’s decision to use non-union voice actors in a move which Cullen believes is “destroying the unions from outside.”
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In an emotional moment, Cullen also shared his opinion that “somebody else doing Optimus Prime…that hurts.”:
In Netflix’s Transformers: War for Cybertron, Optimus Prime is voiced by Jake Foushee. Foushee previously voiced Optimus Prime in Transformers: Cyberverse and in Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy.
Megatron is voiced by Jason Marnocha. He previously voiced megatron in Transformers: Power of the Primes. He also voiced Optimus Prime in the Ironman vs Optimus Prime episode of Super Power Beat Down. His other voice acting credits include Batman and Lex Luthor in Young Justice as well as Coach Nanbu in Megalo Box.
The voice acting for War for Cybertron also includes Linsay Roussea as Elita-1, Frank Todaro as Starscream, Keith Silverstein as Jetfire, Edward Bosco as Soundwave, Bill Rogers as Wheeljack, Todd Haberkorn as Red Alert and Shockwave, Mark Whitten as Sideswipe, Georgia Reed as Chromia, Joe Zieja as Bumblebee, Shawn Hawkins as Mirage, Brook Chalmers as Impactor, Jimmie Stafford as Hound, Rafael Goldstein as Ratchet, Aaron Veach as Prowl, Kaiser Johnson as Ironhide, Brian Robert Burns as Cog, and Alexander DiLallo as Barricade.
The Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy is now available to stream on Netflix.