Hugo Weaving Discusses His Role As Megatron In The Movies. May Not Be Returning.

"Mister Optimus. I find myself becoming...bored with terrible sequels."

Says he doesn't want to be Red Skull in any future Captain America films either.

Honestly, not bothered. He wasn't terrible, but with Frank Welker kicking ass as Megatron in Prime, I'd not be surprised if he finally came back to voice the character on the big screen as well.

This would be a great time to bring in Frank Welker, should have been him in the first place anyhow.

Bring on David Kaye as Megatron, Yesss!

i could care less. i care more about him returning as red skull in captain america movies. but he said he would not do that either.

I...uh...don't care.

Eh, don't care. I liked Hugo's Megatron, but I don't care if he is not coming back. Honestly, if he was (meaning Megatron was returning) I'd be disappointed. Despite the lackluster final fight in DotM, bringing him back from death again would just make me roll my eyes. Megatron needs to stay dead. Maybe bring in Galvatron as a completely new character.

Too bad he doesn't care about the role at all, he has a really cool voice. I didn't think he was returning anyway because Megatron seems permanently dead at this point. But I'm all for Meg's being resurrected again, and I agree that Frank Welker should return as his voice, he's doing a great job on Prime

Understandable, considering how small of a role Megatron played in the first movie. And given that he was told next to nothing about his role, Weaving did an immensely good job with his lines.

Either way, this pretty much means Megs isn't returning in TF4, which is probably for the better. Given the "bitch" roles he played in ROTF and DOTM, I can't stand to see him like that any more.

craggy wrote:"Mister Optimus. I find myself becoming...bored with terrible sequels."

Says he doesn't want to be Red Skull in any future Captain America films either.

Well, he did say *terrible* sequels. Though given how big the Captain America film was, that may be premature.

To be honest, I'm not surprised he wasn't all that thrilled with the role of Megatron. Especially how minimal a role the leader of the Decepticons had in all three films.

I'm not surprised by this in the slightest. Given how little impact Megatron really had in ANY of the movies.

Movie 1) Didn't show up until the very end. Venom had more screen time in Spiderman 3. Crappy design. Even crappier toy. Fold him in half and jam his head into his crotch. He's a jet. Whee.

Movie 2) Second fiddle to 'The Fallen'. Final 'battle' was barely a minute. Toy still crappy. Could have made him actually look cool and 'alien tank' like. Instead they stuck with 'the gay vampire' from movie 1.

Movie 3) Oh boy - now he's a truck. Turned up a the end to battle Prime - for 20 seconds. Didn't even get a leader class figure.


I'm a fan of Megatron from G1 days, and even I couldn't bring myself to be enthused about him as a villain after Bay got his filthy claws into the writing and design process.

TFA Megatron spanked movie Megatron in every conceivable way.

Doesnt surprise me in the least, Im still surprised that he even took the job in the first place. He didnt do a bad job but thats not really saying much since this Megatron is one of the wost ever made & he had very little screen time. And when he was on screen he was either bitching or getting his ass kicked. I dont even think Welker or Kaye couldve helped this version of Megatron. But what i want to know is was it bays fault or weavings fault that he did nothing but a 2 hour booth session? Did bay just send him the lines & said "read this" or did Weaving just not care and only wanted to get it out of the way to do other things. Either way that seems like a really shitty way to do something. Just more proof that these movies are a joke and need to be snuffed out of existence.

Megatron Wolf wrote:Doesnt surprise me in the least, Im still surprised that he even took the job in the first place. He didnt do a bad job but thats not really saying much since this Megatron is one of the wost ever made & he had very little screen time. And when he was on screen he was either bitching or getting his ass kicked. I dont even think Welker or Kaye couldve helped this version of Megatron. Either way that seems like a really shitty way to do something. Just more proof that these movies are a joke and need to be snuffed out of existence.

Nothing but truth from Megatron Wolf.

Personally, I don't want them to bring back Megatron for TF4. They've already killed him once, revived him once, and then killed him again. Reviving him again would be too much like the Unicron Trilogy Syndrome minus the Galvatron upgrade.

There are other villains they could use for this movie that they haven't used already. Thunderwing, Bludgeon, a non-Megs Galvatron, Overlord, Deathsaurus, Straxus, Jhiaxus, even the DJD could pull it off.

Sabrblade wrote:Personally, I don't want them to bring back Megatron for TF4. They've already killed him once, revived him once, and then killed him again. Reviving him again would be too much like the Unicron Trilogy Syndrome minus the Galvatron upgrade.

There are other villains they could use for this movie that they haven't used already. Thunderwing, Bludgeon, a non-Megs Galvatron, Overlord, Deathsaurus, Straxus, Jhiaxus, even the DJD could pull it off.

I wouldn't want Bay to touch the DJD. Thats something WAY too cool to get infected by his half-assed treatment. Actually all of it is... but the DJD, thats a sinister pack of blood thirsty EVIL cons... Bay would probably end up having humans kill them with slingshots.

This speaks volumes in how much care was put into the live action TF movies. Hugo is a great actor and I love his stuff, however Frank would have put alot more 'heart' into the role.

The movies are a mess anyway. I don't blame him for not wanting to come back.

This is, what, 3 voice actors that have expressed how un-interested in their own roles: Eric Idle, Orson Welles, and now Hugo Weaving. I think they all did a fantastic job even if they really didn't care about it.
Can't help but wonder how much better they'd be if they DID care, though...

Bring on Frank Welker! Or just don't bring Megatron back. AGAIN.

Yeah, the way Megatron was treated in Bayverse, this isn't surprising, as a matter of fact it's fitting. If he had put any serious effort into it, it would have been a waste of his time and talent. I don't blame Weaving for phoning it in, whether it was his choice or not.

Not broken-hearted over this, as I don't care for the way Megatron was portrayed in the Bay movies anyway.

I'm more disappointed that Weaving doesn't want to be the Red Skull again, as I was hoping for a real "Wrath of Khan"-type return for him. Oh well.

I could barely understand a quarter of what he said in the movies anyway. I really couldn't care less who plays such a modulated voice. I'd be cool with it if they let the character stay dead entirely.

wow....just wow. At least he had a fabulous performance in this movie,


lmao

Sentinel Maximus wrote:This speaks volumes in how much care was put into the live action TF Movies.

Exactly. Not a big fan of Mr. Smith but it ain't his fault he had a few lines of crappy dialogue with no context. I don't want any more of that either. Just wonder when the rest of the audience wil get fed up with the inanity. Of course when that happens the producers will do anything but admit their movies just plain sucked.

Sorry but all this just proves how Bay feels about these movies. They aren't Transformers movies at all, they are giant robot movies. How can a director expect to hire a big name like Hugo Weaving and not even meet him to explain the character and why he is doing things. oh wait, that is called character development, something absent from the movies.

It's a shame to hear that because on the opposite side of Weaving we had Peter Cullen who is very passionate about Optimus Prime. The role means a great deal to him.

He bought nothing interesting to the role, he was generic baddy number 1. Thats it. Megatron had nothing interesting about him. Welker puts so much into his voice for Megatron, anger, pain etc though he dialed it back for the Prime series.

Get Frank back to make Megatron interesting again.

Loved him as Megatron. He was my favorite character in Bayformers. That being said, I can understand him not wanting to come back. Megs is dead, anyway. They should introduce a new villain.

MINDVVIPE wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Personally, I don't want them to bring back Megatron for TF4. They've already killed him once, revived him once, and then killed him again. Reviving him again would be too much like the Unicron Trilogy Syndrome minus the Galvatron upgrade.

There are other villains they could use for this movie that they haven't used already. Thunderwing, Bludgeon, a non-Megs Galvatron, Overlord, Deathsaurus, Straxus, Jhiaxus, even the DJD could pull it off.

I wouldn't want Bay to touch the DJD. Thats something WAY too cool to get infected by his half-assed treatment. Actually all of it is... but the DJD, thats a sinister pack of blood thirsty EVIL cons... Bay would probably end up having humans kill them with slingshots.

I agree, please oh please, leave the DJD alone. Don't give Bay any more ideas. DJD is perhaps one of the coolest collection of characters we saw. The design etc. You know who should be a villain, Wheelie yes Wheelie. I'm willing to even accept Megan Fox as a horrible resurrected villain. But no DJD.

But I don't mind Megatron coming back. He's already been humiliated over and over again. Why not the third time. Bludgeon would be awesome to see.

They can't have Unicron, would be too hard to animate, and he will have a short screen time.

Ravage XK wrote:He bought nothing interesting to the role, he was generic baddy number 1. Thats it. Megatron had nothing interesting about him. Welker puts so much into his voice for Megatron, anger, pain etc though he dialed it back for the Prime series.

Get Frank back to make Megatron interesting again.

Don't you think that would be more the fault of the writers than the guy reading what he was given to read?

Yes, tone ... inflection ... all come into play, but the greatest of voice actor would have a hard time making a character seem interesting if the writers are terrible two-bit hacks who can't construct dialogue to bring a character to life.

Burn wrote:

Ravage XK wrote:He bought nothing interesting to the role, he was generic baddy number 1. Thats it. Megatron had nothing interesting about him. Welker puts so much into his voice for Megatron, anger, pain etc though he dialed it back for the Prime series.

Get Frank back to make Megatron interesting again.

Don't you think that would be more the fault of the writers than the guy reading what he was given to read?

Yes, tone ... inflection ... all come into play, but the greatest of voice actor would have a hard time making a character seem interesting if the writers are terrible two-bit hacks who can't construct dialogue to bring a character to life.

Yes, that's a good point. The writing was terrible. I feel that had they used Welker with these words he would have at least been able to dress them up in a more memorable performance, he does after all know Megatron pretty well. Hugo said that he just went in and read for a couple of hours, there was no interest in the character etc. I don't know if he did that before or after the animation was done but Welker would have ( I'm pretty sure ) changed or suggested changes to fit in with the Megatron he built. His suggestions could be rejected of course if the powers wanted something different.

I just feel that Megatron was more like a baddy of the week with nothing that created any presence. Agreed, that it wasn't just Hugo's fault but after what he said in the interview he has gone down in my estimation.

See, I just don't get why so many people are putting so much stock into what Welker COULD have done.

I will NEVER dispute the talent of the guy (he's second to Mel Blanc imo) BUT ... everyone goes on about how Peter Cullen IS Optimus Prime, yet a lot of people are critical of movie Prime.

Did Cullen step up and make Movie Prime more G1 Prime, did he do for Movie Prime what he did for G1 Prime? Or did he just read the lines he was given, exactly like what Weaving did.

Hmm, I never thought I would hear Optimus Prime say "My bad" but then I hadn't heard anyone say that until about 10 years ago and I think it sounds dumb. He did seem to be basically the same character and Id like to think that he has so much invested in Prime, given who Peter says the inspiration for the character is, that he would have pointed un Prime like things out and had an influence.

People believe that Frank and Peter know what these characters mean to the fans and would hope that they wouldn't tread all over them simply to make a bit of money. They seem to appreciate the impact their work had on people.

Ravage XK wrote:People believe that Frank and Peter know what these characters mean to the fans and would hope that they wouldn't tread all over them simply to make a bit of money. They seem to appreciate the impact their work had on people.

I don't doubt that they understand the impact they've had on people over the years, and I think they've been very humble and appreciative of it.

But I really do think people are giving them more credit in the direction of the characters they're voicing.

As far as i'm concerned, I don't think Cullen has had much input into Movie or TF:Prime Optimus. If he did, he would have stood up and said "Hey come on, this guy is just way too preachy and whiny!"

Can't believe how many people are complaining about Megatron's lack of screen time. Across the trilogy he had far more screen time and dialogue than any other Decepticon. It's natural that the villains are going to be featured less than the heroes, (every movie is like this - compare Darth Vader's screen time in SW to every good guy), and Megs was in the spotlight a hell of a lot more than several of the Autobots, (Ratchet, Sideswipe, Jazz etc...).

And to say he was only whining or getting his ass kicked? He kicked the crap out of Optimus TWICE!

Ravage XK wrote:Hmm, I never thought I would hear Optimus Prime say "My bad" but then I hadn't heard anyone say that until about 10 years ago and I think it sounds dumb. He did seem to be basically the same character and Id like to think that he has so much invested in Prime, given who Peter says the inspiration for the character is, that he would have pointed un Prime like things out and had an influence.

People believe that Frank and Peter know what these characters mean to the fans and would hope that they wouldn't tread all over them simply to make a bit of money. They seem to appreciate the impact their work had on people.

As talented and passionate as you give Peter and Welker credit for, I think you are over estimating any of the voice talents ability to affect these movies. The things we've heard about Bay, I doubt he'd let the most talented of voice actors do anything but read the lines that he has given them.

Look at movie Prime. He has gone down as the most uncharacteristic Prime ins the franchise. I can guarantee you that Peters role in the creation of this Prime was no more involved than Hugo's. It's not about the voice actors and their appreciation of their roles, it is about Bay and his appreciation for this franchise, and while these movies were fine summer action flicks, they were really lousy Transformers stories.

Don't blame him at all, I mean he died in every movie but the second, he really only didn't to anything until the end of them all, and he had almost no dialogue. And he's supposed to be a decepticon leader. And only meeting with bay via Skype? Hugo doesn't care about the role, and neither does Bay, he just wants to blow up Megs like everything else.

I've got nothing more to add. We'll just have to wait and see what tf4 turns out to be.
Good thing we have FOC & Prime in the meantime.

While I suppose it's disappointing to hear that Hugo doesn't particularly care for his turn as Megatron, he did just provide a voice. It's not like he was a live part of the films in the way that any of the human cast was. Could it be possible that he doesn't hold the role in great esteem because he spoke into a microphone a couple of times as opposed to having been in front of the camera?
He's been in a number of films by now that have relied on effects or makeup of what have you to help create his character (the Red Skull, V, Elrond)but had he ever done any voice work prior to these movies? Even then, and I see this has already been brought up, the lack of Megatron dialogue, but I essentially had four or five good lines over the span of three movies (just my opinion). Maybe he didn't find things like saying "Megatron!" up to his personal standard of his work.
Anyway, we've gotten some similar stories from other members of the cast, and it could be entirely possible that they just don't see the films with the same glasses as fans of the movies do. Yeah, I agree that people should be proud to some degree at least of everything they attach their names to, but it's possible that Weaving just doesn't think that voicing Megatron ranks super high on his list.

Dagon wrote:While I suppose it's disappointing to hear that Hugo doesn't particularly care for his turn as Megatron, he did just provide a voice. It's not like he was a live part of the films in the way that any of the human cast was. Could it be possible that he doesn't hold the role in great esteem because he spoke into a microphone a couple of times as opposed to having been in front of the camera?
He's been in a number of films by now that have relied on effects or makeup of what have you to help create his character (the Red Skull, V, Elrond)but had he ever done any voice work prior to these movies? Even then, and I see this has already been brought up, the lack of Megatron dialogue, but I essentially had four or five good lines over the span of three movies (just my opinion). Maybe he didn't find things like saying "Megatron!" up to his personal standard of his work.
Anyway, we've gotten some similar stories from other members of the cast, and it could be entirely possible that they just don't see the films with the same glasses as fans of the movies do. Yeah, I agree that people should be proud to some degree at least of everything they attach their names to, but it's possible that Weaving just doesn't think that voicing Megatron ranks super high on his list.

I agree. Sure there was a lack of a buncha crap on bay and the writers' part, but they are just voice actors, who might not even care about the subject matter (especially when presented with such a lack of soul in the character, story, and whatever else they might have had to read before conducting their work). Just kind of a random tangent, but the next time (if) you watch american dad, and principal louis is speaking, look at your bulkkhead figure. Hearing bulkhead speak such adult dialogue is hilarious

Well, Movie Megs sucked a lot, and he doesn't get enough screen time like Animated Megs.

Still, I hope Michael Butt chooses Welker, because he does deserve a G1/Prime like Megs.

Lord Onixprime wrote:Eh, don't care. I liked Hugo's Megatron, but I don't care if he is not coming back. Honestly, if he was (meaning Megatron was returning) I'd be disappointed. Despite the lackluster final fight in DotM, bringing him back from death again would just make me roll my eyes. Megatron needs to stay dead. Maybe bring in Galvatron as a completely new character.

Agreed...keep Megs dead...Bring in Galvatron or some other ultimate badass bad guy. Find an actor that cares too. Hugo was ok, but I mean...whatever.

Micronautsdeep wrote:

Lord Onixprime wrote:Eh, don't care. I liked Hugo's Megatron, but I don't care if he is not coming back. Honestly, if he was (meaning Megatron was returning) I'd be disappointed. Despite the lackluster final fight in DotM, bringing him back from death again would just make me roll my eyes. Megatron needs to stay dead. Maybe bring in Galvatron as a completely new character.

Agreed...keep Megs dead...Bring in Galvatron or some other ultimate badass bad guy. Find an actor that cares too. Hugo was ok, but I mean...whatever.

Galvatron and Megatron are the same dude.

And we already have someone somethings named Galvatron(s) in the Movie Franchise.

PrymeStriker wrote:Galvatron and Megatron are the same dude.

And we already have someone somethings named Galvatron(s) in the Movie Franchise.

They could still make a "Galvatron (TF4)" who is a non-Megs Galvatron like BWII Galvatron and IDW Galvatron.

Of course he doesn't shive a git about what he did as Megatron. What actor in their right mind would? Bayverse Megatron is a Megaflop. The weakest supposed "leader" of any incarnation. It doesn't even deserve to be called Transformers.

User897 wrote:Of course he doesn't shive a git about what he did as Megatron. What actor in their right mind would?

Peter Cullen?

Umm, as always, Peter Cullen was/is Optimus Prime. Your point? I was talking about the crappy Bay version of Megatron and how all the Bay movie scripts were below Mr. Weaving.

User897 wrote:Umm, as always, Peter Cullen was/is Optimus Prime. Your point? I was talking about the crappy Bay version of Megatron and how all the Bay movie scripts were below Mr. Weaving.

Didn't you ask what actor would care about their role in the Bay movies?

TulioDude wrote:WARNING:Large amount of blind rage detected in this topic.

There sure is. Hugo weaving is one of my favorite actors, but I can totally understand that sitting in a booth for 2 hours wouldn't rank among his greatest roles. But of course there are people that have to twist every little thing into irrational Bay hatred.

PrymeStriker wrote:

Micronautsdeep wrote:

Lord Onixprime wrote:Eh, don't care. I liked Hugo's Megatron, but I don't care if he is not coming back. Honestly, if he was (meaning Megatron was returning) I'd be disappointed. Despite the lackluster final fight in DotM, bringing him back from death again would just make me roll my eyes. Megatron needs to stay dead. Maybe bring in Galvatron as a completely new character.

Agreed...keep Megs dead...Bring in Galvatron or some other ultimate badass bad guy. Find an actor that cares too. Hugo was ok, but I mean...whatever.

Galvatron and Megatron are the same dude.

And we already have someone somethings named Galvatron(s) in the Movie Franchise.

Sort of...Megatron re-created by Unicron. We all know the story, just saying. If they bring back Megs, re-create him as Galvatron or come up with someone we haven't seen yet.

Evil_the_Nub wrote:

TulioDude wrote:WARNING:Large amount of blind rage detected in this topic.

There sure is. Hugo weaving is one of my favorite actors, but I can totally understand that sitting in a booth for 2 hours wouldn't rank among his greatest roles. But of course there are people that have to twist every little thing into irrational Bay hatred.

Hugo doesn't want to play red skull again, and as far as I was concerned, that was a pretty boring character in the movie, so theres definitely enough grounds to believe that crappy writing could cause an actor or voice actor to lose any bond with the character, and vice versa with good writing potentially inspiring an actor or voice actor to create a sense of achievemant and connection with that role. But ya, its all pretty much speculation. There just so happens to be a readily possible reason with the crappy writing, so its no surprise people would begin to slander the movies. Hardly irrational when your guess is as good as mine.

That's what I meant, was the script, including the poorly-written Megatron character, was simply something that talented professionals like Weaving would not want to focus on.