Roberto Orci Chimes In On New Transformers Animated Series!

With the widely popular and successful Transformers Prime animated series now behind us, many Transformer fans are still in mourning of yet another great cartoon series getting buried six feet deep. Sure, we still have a Transformers Prime Dvd Movie to look forward too ( no new news on that front), but what’s next? As announced earlier this year, Hasbro and the Hub Network are already working on the next animated Transformers series. Executive Producer , Robert Orci, recently sat down with IGN to share some insight on what direction the new series will be taking fans, will it be a reboot or Transformers Prime continuation, as well as voice actors Peter Cullen and Frank Welker reprising their iconic roles with Optimus and Megatron. Enjoy the full interview below and be sure to let us know what you think of the new series potential!

Join in the Discussion after the JUMP!

Source:IGN

While Transformers Prime came to an end just a couple of weeks ago, Transformers fans know that the incredibly durable franchise will of course be back with a new animated incarnation. In fact, Transformers Prime executive producer Jeff Kline told me at the start of Prime’s final season that it looked like he and most of the Prime team will be working on the new version.

The ever-busy Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Fringe, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and so much more) were also executive producers on Transformers Prime, continuing their involvement with the franchise after the duo wrote the first two live-action Transformers films. I spoke to Orci recently about the next incarnation of Transformers in animation, confirming he and Kurtzman will be producing it and learning a bit more about what Hasbro and their collaborators are looking to create this time.

IGN: Transformers Prime just ended. They’ve already said there will, of course, be another iteration of Transformers coming. Will you and Alex be involved in that, or do you guys have too much going on right now?

Orci: No, we are involved in it. We talked about it with Hasbro, and we’re excited about it. It’s not really a reboot, it’s sort of a continuation of it [Transformers Prime] in a tonally different form. We want to make sure we’re servicing the right audiences. We got to do a very adult version of Transformers that you just saw in this cartoon, a very sophisticated one, and we also want to make sure we don’t leave other kids behind, who love Transformers too and don’t want to be as scared as Transformers Prime could make you, that kind of thing. So we’re going to have a good parallel series that is connected, but it’s a little more friendly to the family.

IGN: Story-wise, though, as far as continuity is concerned, will Transformers Prime’s events have happened in the new show?

Orci: We are discussing that very question right now. I’d love to have as much continuity as possible, and that’s part of what’s been fun about being a part of the Transformers universe since we jumped on the movies. It’s trying to take all the research and all the things that they have — giant bibles and binders of Transformers iterations. So we always tried to thread the needle as best we could of taking their best, favorite stories and kind of putting them in some order that was consistent. That’s always our goal. The degree of success will be up to the audience.

IGN: I don’t know if you’ve heard of cynical people on the Internet, but they do exist. You know that some adult fans will say, “Oh, they’re going to make it a total kid thing now. It’s going to just be for kids!” What would you say to that, as far as the balance you’re looking to strike?

Orci: I would say that clever wit always makes it something more adult. I think the look of it, you may find, is more kid-friendly. But we certainly don’t intend to be any less entertaining or any less Transformers. But there is a little bit of truth to that. I won’t deny that also, yes, we’re trying to make sure that younger kids who really love Transformers aren’t put off by its intensity.

IGN: Will it have the same voice cast, including Peter Cullen and Frank Welker?

Orci: Yes. Assuming they say yes. If they will come back, it’s theirs!