After Sutherland was confirmed to be Big Boss, some people still want to think Hayter will appear in MGS V, I'm here to say why this is likely just wishful thinking. Believe me, I want Hayter to return, but it's not happening. So since Sutherland is doing Big Boss, people have started to think Hayter will return to do Solid Snake, the clone of Big Boss. While the idea is fun, this is not the case if we really listen to the reasons behind the voice actor change in the first place.
They replaces Hayter with Sutherland because they wanted a big Hollywood actor, they really emphasize this, that they want someone with a fitting voice who's also able to do face capture and motion capture. While this is all good and all, it's not the first time a regular voice actor does all this, and it's not like Hayter lacks face muscles, but this is the way it is, they want someone who they deem worthy actors. It's clear that they don't see Hayter as such.
Furthermore, Akio Otsuka, the voice actor for the Japanese Solid Snake, will continue to do the voice for Big Boss in MGS V. You people know what that means? If Solid Snake were to appear the Japanese VA would have to stand there talking to himself, this is a big reason to why it won't happen. Kojima seems to be really focusing on the western version, for some reason, having the game itself modeled after the western actors and all. So while fans never asked for it, Kojima saw it fit to take away a very iconic part of the franchise in order to have more believable acting in it, it's all practical really. And all I can say is that I hope it's worth it.
Moving on, now that they have Sutherland, what happens with future MGS titles if there are any? Will future budgets even allow them to rehire Sutherland? Will Sutherland even bother coming in again to do perhaps cameos if not full roles? I don't know about that, that's the thing about big Hollywood actors, you don't know if they'll stick around. Hayter would have been willing to do Snake (whichever) forever, now when they've broken that in favor of someone who might not. I fear it would make it appear as if they had some split-personality thing going on, it would be unavoidable if multiple actors end up doing Big Boss in their own way.
Look, to me Hayter will always be Solid Snake as well as Big Boss... Good for them who accept this so well, saying how the two were different characters to begin with and all that, good for you. Fact remains that the Japanese voice still stays the same, so that different voices for different characters is okay as long as it wasn't coated in big fat hypocrisy. I respect Kojima, he knows how to make great games, but on this it feels like he's wronging fans of a beloved franchise simply to attach a big Hollywood name to it, and I don't know if I can be okay with it.
Don't get me wrong though, I will buy the game, I don't support boycotting because of this. I will buy it, play it, probably even love it, but still always remain a bit bitter over the fact that the character in front of me isn't the one I've gotten to know.
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| Hayter be haytin' |
