Peter Cullen’s Swan Song as Optimus Prime is Amazing

Optimus Prime: Awakening Review

Forty years ago, Hasbro managed to make millions of kids cry with The Transformers: the Movie. They didn’t just kill off a good chunk of the first wave of Autobots and Decepticons onscreen; they did it in as brutal a fashion as possible with a kid’s show. The real kicker, though, was the death of Optimus Prime, a moment that now lives in infamy. Hasbro would regret that decision almost immediately, as toy sales and viewership dropped. Upset kids, some of whom locked themselves in their rooms as they underwent the grieving process, sent the company hate mail, while (rightfully) outraged parents left phone calls about how mad they were for hurting their kids. In less than a year, they had to bring Prime back, and even though he dies all the time now, Hasbro learned their lesson: Prime’s death doesn’t stick.

As for the movie, it’s gone from being hated to beloved, mostly because of the memes and people laughing about what Hasbro was thinking. So much so that they’ve spent 2026 embracing that infamy with “The Apology Tour,” complete with new toys, re-releasing the soundtrack on vinyl, and other tongue-in-cheek stuff. All of this would lead up to the re-release of the movie in theaters this September so that we could relive the trauma all over again. It was all in good fun, though. That is, until the day it happened. The day we lost Peter Cullen.

It was obvious that Cullen didn’t have long for this world

I think I mentioned it in my reviews of Invincible, but I noticed how Peter’s voice sounded different as Thaedus. I could have chalked that up to him voicing an entirely different character from Optimus Prime, but I didn’t. I knew that he was likely giving it his all, but I could tell that his voice was getting weaker. It just didn’t have the same commanding presence. And it wasn’t just as Thaedus, either. In the time before his death, I had gone back to listen to his performance as Prime in Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts, and noted just how aged and gravelly it sounded. So I knew that he couldn’t keep playing Optimus Prime for much longer, and that he should consider retiring and live what time he had left for himself. I knew all of this, and I was still shocked by his passing! We all were. And suddenly, the 40th anniverserary of the infamous movie took on a new meaning.

I hadn’t planned on going to see it, having seen the film many times already. But after Peter died, I think a lot of Transformers fans decided to go see it as a way to honor Peter. Especially since it came attached with a new short that would mark Peter’s final performance as the character that made him a legend. So I spent the next week binging Transfromers media, bought a new Optimus Prime toy, and went to see the movie in theaters for the first time. It was just as violent as I remember, though I did like how one older moviegoer openly cussed out Hot Rod/Rodimus. Some grudges never fade.

But then, we get to the real reason we went to see the movie: to see Peter’s final gift to us, Optimus Prime Awakening. What was meant to be a look back on the entire franchise ended up becoming the best tribute to Peter we could have gotten.

The Big Death, Revisited

The short opens with the most infamous moment of Optimus Prime’s life: his death. The death. The death in The Transformers: the Movie that started it all. That was most surprising to me, but it makes sense, given that it was attached to the film. But then, thing gets weird. When Optimus next comes to, he is in this strange void facing this massive sphere that I actually had to look up after the fact. According to the Transformers Wiki, it’s The One, this extradimensional entity that’s existed since before the multiverse; so, basically God. It’s also the creator of Primus, the entity of light and order, creator of the Transformers, and Unicron, AKA the planet-eating monster introduced in the very movie this was attached to. It could also be seen as a surrogate for the audience. For in every work of fiction, are we not outside observers watching everything that happens for our enjoyment? And The One basically congratulates Optimus for being such an inspirational figure for all, but then it drops this line:

“But have no fear. You will die for them again.”

And then, we get flashes across the Transformers multiverse of all the different incarnations of Optimus Prime. From the Michael Films Transformers: Prime and Transformers: Animated, and…did we get the Unicron trilogy? I can’t remember, but that’s not the point. The point is that in almost reality in the Transformersverse, Optimus Prime is the big good. The ultimate symbol of heroism and bravery for all. And as we have come to know, in almost every reality, Optimus Prime dies. It may be temporary because Hasbro learned their lesson, but it still happens. And then The One asks Optimus why he keeps wanting to go back to an endless war.

The Running Gag of Optimus Dying

This felt very meta to me. The Transformers have been around for forty-two years by now, and we have seen many different versions of the same characters. But even in the series where their war is supposed to be over, we still see Autobots fighting Decepticons over and over. And it will keep happening so long as Hasbro makes money off of it. It’s entertaining and we love the characters, but think about it from their perspective. It’s got to be a nightmare, and The One wants Optimus to want out. And all Optimus wants is to go back and finish the fight.

What follows is a pretty introspective look on the nature of Optimus Prime and Transformers as a whole as our hero battles his way through visions of enemies. It gave me some mixed feelings watching it, because on the one hand, we knew The One was right. So long as the franchise exists, Optimus will be made to keep fighting throughout different incarnations. Even when the Autobots do ultimately win, it doesn’t stick, either because the Decepticons come back or Hasbro moves on to another version of the story. And if all these versions of Prime are somehow linked, then he really is stuck in this endless loop of war. When does it end?

Not helping matters is hearing just how weary Optimus sounds. Hasbro never meant for this to be his final performance, but despite still giving it his all, it doesn’t change the fact that Peter Cullen was nearing the end of his life. The result is that his legendary voice, weakened by age, comes across as weary and tired. It gives the impression that, for all his talk of sticking to his principles, Optimus Prime is running on fumes. He doesn’t want to keep fighting, but he forces himself to do so for the sake of his family. All of which ultimately culminates in a final duel between Prime and Megatron in which Prime has Megatron dead to rights. By all account, he should end it then and there!

I Got the Ending, but not sure about the Execution

What happens next, based on what I’ve seen online, has left fans divided. At the last moment, Optimus has an epiphany: he doesn’t have to do this. He doesn’t have to kill Megatron. We as the audience expect him to do so, and so do the Autobots. We’ve seen him kill Megatron in various versions of the franchise, most notably in the Michael Bay films. And, let’s face it, Megatron more than deserves death most of the time. But he doesn’t have to be the one to do it. So, Optimus Prime does what The One was trying to tell him: he walks away.

This left fans feeling very divided. Heck, I didn’t even understand it at first. But I think that a lot of us are forgetting just who Peter Cullen made Optimus Prime. When he told his brother, Larry, about how he was going to be playing a robot truck, Larry, a former marine, gave him the best advice he could have ever gotten: don’t be just another action hero. “Be strong enough to be gentle.” And sometimes the strongest thing anyone can do is to say no and walk away.

Where Optimus ends up walking to, though, is beyond me. Maybe he moved on to the afterlife, or to fight a bigger war. I didn’t really think too much about it, especially since we know that this was Peter Cullen’s swan song.

Fly high, Peter Cullen

There is no getting around the fact that, in the wake of Peter Cullen’s death, Optimus Prime Awakening has become a love letter to the man who made Optimus the icon he is. It’s sad and bittersweet and I know we all hate that he’s dead. And I don’t fully understand what the whole point behind this short was; I can admit that. But whatever the meaning behind it was supposed to be, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s changed. Barring Hasbro using an AI version of his voice, and god forbid they do, than this is the last time we’ll see Peter play the role that made him a legend. It’s not the most exciting way for him to go out, but it’s still better than nothing. And at the end of it all, it gets what Peter Cullen was trying to portray in Optimus: be strong enough to be gentle. I think that’s something that everyone, even adults, can benefit to learn from. Imagine how much suffering could be avoided if we had the strength to be merciful and walk away?

Peter Cullen may now be one with the Matrix, but his legacy will live on. He taught entire generations about what it means to be a true hero and a good person. He was an inspiration to countless kids and adults around the world. And if there is an afterlife awaiting us after we shed our mortal forms, then I hope that he’s reunited with his brother and waiting for the day when Frank Welker can join him. Or if reincarnation is a thing, maybe he got sent somewhere that needs a hero. Either way, I think Optimus Prime: Awakening is a fitting tribute to the legend of Peter Cullen. Til all are one.