I loved Transformers. You loved Transformers. But it was missing something. His name was Soundwave and let’s face it, he was by far the coolest Decepticon. He may not have made it into the first movie, but now screenwriter Robert Orci tells IGN that he will be in the second one. Huzzah!
The question is, how will they do it? Soundwave as he was in the cartoon would never work in the real world. We’re talking about a 20 foot tall robot which somehow, inexplicably, transformed into a 1 foot tall microcassette recorder. I’m pretty sure that breaks a few laws of physics. Orci doesn’t reveal anything other than that Soundwave will be present, along with at least one of the transforming tape robots who used to leap out of his chest, probably Ravage. But obviously, Soundwave is going to have to be turned into something besides a tape player. It’s the only answer, especially since the previous film already had a radio robot and we all stopped using tapes more than 15 years ago.
I’m all for it. It doesn’t really matter what Soundwave transforms into, as long as they keep the voice, and find a way for him to say “Ravage eject”. So we’re talking about some sort of robot which has smaller robots leaping out of it. Soundwave is one of Megatron’s chief lieutenants, so he’ll also need to be big. What else could they turn Soundwave into? Here’s a few alternatives:
Alternative 1: They take the easy way out and simply turn him into the same sort of unrecognizable, alien gobbledeegook that Megatron was in the first movie. Stick a lot of spikes on him, and he could be just about anything. Lame, but easy.
Alternative 2: Use one of the other alternative modes he’s appeared in through the various other incarnations of the Transformers series. Though everyone knows and loves him best as a tape deck, he’s also been a communications tower, a stock car, a motorcycle, and an alien tank.
Alternative 3: Come up with something that is big enough to meet their needs, involves sound in some way, and allows Soundwave to use symbiotic robots which detach from him in some manner. Maybe some sort of tricked out low-rider with an over-the-top sound system? But then where do you fit in the spy robots? Soundwave has to have some reason to carry around Ravage.
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