Hugo Weaving voicing Megatron

There’s been a lot of debate among Transformers fans as to who exactly should be charged with giving voice to the titular giant robot stars.

And while the driving opinion has been in favour of retaining the admittedly aging voice-over stars that worked on the cartoon series and movie, it looks like the producers aren’t giving in to every demand.

For while Peter Cullen’s iconic tones will once more breathe life into Optimus Prime, Michael Bay and DreamWorks are choosing a slightly more famous set of vocal chords for his nemesis.

According to SectorSeven.org, a site set up by the studio as a stealth promotional tool for the film, the evil Decepticon leader Megatron will be given voice by none other than Hugo Weaving. Yes, the man who brought us Agent Smith, LOTR’s Elrond and V will be plotting the downfall of the human race.

We’re in two minds about this. Weaving’s got a great voice for villains (Smith is still one of the few decent things about all three Matrix movies), but it also means it’s tough to separate the man’s roles from his voice, no matter how much the sound technicians tweak it for robo-use. And we’re going to miss Frank Welker’s established Megatron voice. Still, don’t feel bad for Welker – he’s among Hollywood’s voice-over royalty and the go-to guy for animals. Santa’s Little Helper and Snowball II on The Simpsons? That’ll be Frank. Oh, and he’s still getting to voice at least one other ‘bot.

And in an extra news nugget for Transformers fans – and those wishing to hear just how good Welker was as Megatron – UK distributors Metrodome are planning to ride the wave of robot love by re-releasing the 1986 cinematic adventure from 4 May at one of London’s West End cinemas for two weeks. Which surely has nothing to do with their “Ultimate” Edition of the film due out in June…