Soundwave (Transformers) - Transformers

Transformers

Almost from the moment the live action Transformers movie was announced in 2004, producer Don Murphy and the production team made it clear they did not want to feature mass/size shifting in transformation (excluding the Allspark), due to concerns over realism. With this process an inherent part of Soundwave's tape deck alternate mode, there was some discussion over whether or not to change it due to its obsolescence, or to include the character in the film at all. It was announced by Hasbro at SDCC 2004 that movie Soundwave would be a helicopter. Early leaked movie scripts proposed that his alternate mode would be a helicopter, but animatics shown at the 2005 Comic Con were poorly received. This led to a rethink, with the eventual helicopter character rechristened as Vortex, then finally Blackout. 2006 script reviews named Soundwave as a spying boombox on Air Force One, able to transform into a small robot, but eventually, this character was amended to being Frenzy, with Don Murphy stating that Soundwave will be reserved for a future sequel, until they can "do him right". When the film was released on DVD a special on-line content from Best Buy showed early animation footage of Blackout as a blue helicopter with a head that resembled Soundwave.

In a USA Today online fan poll, Soundwave was one of the 10 Transformers that the fans wanted in the sequel, winning with 20% of the votes.

Soundwave appears in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Soundwave is a satellite in the film, and he is also a Triple changer as he has the form of a Cybertronian jet as well. Soundwave is not seen in his robot form in the film. Frank Welker reprised his voicing role, and used his Doctor Claw voice from Inspector Gadget, which, when run through a vocoder, gives Soundwave his unique voice from the original animated series. The lack of this vocoder in the 2009 film left the voice sounding more like Doctor Claw than the original Soundwave. He has his minion Ravage to his bidding in the film.

Soundwave also appears in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, this time transforming into a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and with Laserbeak to serve him. He has two sonic cannons that resembles a UZI.

His Hasbro Battle Bio states that he is 22 feet tall and that his main weapon is a sonic cannon which can only be used in the atmosphere, as sound waves will not travel in vacuum.

Unlike in the Generation One cartoon, Transformers: Animated, & in Transformers: Prime, he displays emotion. In all 3 cartoon continuities, he is emotionless & behaves similar to a computer. In Dark of the Moon, he proven he smiles with glee at achieving victories joyfully.