‘Maze Runner’s Dylan O’Brien Voicing Bumblebee in ‘Transformers’ Spinoff

We finally know who will be providing the voice of Bumblebee in the first Transformers spinoff movie.

IGN reports that Maze Runner star Dylan O’Brien will voice the Autobot hero in the upcoming film.

Bumblee hasn’t had a distinct voice in any of the previous Transformers movies. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura explained why that had to change now.

“Since we were approaching this as an origin story, we felt that it was appropriate that you got to hear his voice,” di Bonaventura said. “That’s the simple logic that we employed. The longer term implication of that is different. But the short-term implication of that is, since we really are resetting the mythology, essentially, of who Bumblebee is. And so, that seemed to us to be the appropriate, to get the chance to hear what he sounds like.”

As for why O’Brien was chosen to be that voice, di Bonaventura said, “Dylan has that great quality in his voice of youthful exuberance, and also sort of trustworthiness. I think those are the two qualities that we wanted Bumblebee to have.”

Bumblebee takes place in 1987, 20 years before the events of the first Transformers movie. Hailee Steinfeld stars as Charlie Watson, a teenage girl who discovers that her yellow Volkswagen Beetle is a giant alien robot.

Bumblebee won’t be the only Transformer to appear in the film. The spinoff will also include the Generation 1 version of Optimus Prime and several Decepticons.

Bumblebee is directed by Travis Knight, who is best known for Laika animated features Kubo and the Two Strings and Coraline. The film also stars John Cena, Pamela Adlon, Stephen Schneider, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Jason Drucker, Kenneth Choi, Ricardo Hoyos, Abby Quinn, and Grace Dzienny.

Bumblebee is just the first step in Paramount’s plans to expand the Transformers movie franchise. The studio convened a writers’ room to brainstorm ideas for the Transformers cinematic universe. There are rumors that a film called Transformers One is in development. The film would reveal the origins of the Autobots and Decepticons. There are also plans for a crossover with GI Joe and other Hasbro properties.

Production on Bumblebee began in July 2017 in California. The film is the sixth in the Transformers live-action series. It follows 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight, the final film in the franchise to directed Michael Bay, who has directed every film in the series so far. The future of the core film series is currently unclear. Paramount removed Transformers 6 from its release schedule and has officially put the film on hold.

What do you think of Dylan O’Brien voicing Bumblebee? Let us know in the comments!

Bumblebee opens in theaters on December 21st.