Following the news of Peter Cullen’s passing, Hasbro has announced that a new short film “Optimus Prime: Awakening” will be premiered along with the 40th anniversary rerelease of The Transformers: The Movie

[https://gizmodo.com/peter-cullens-final-performance-as-optimus-prime-is-a-love-letter-to-transformers-fans-2000805788](https://gizmodo.com/peter-cullens-final-performance-as-optimus-prime-is-a-love-letter-to-transformers-fans-2000805788)

The short will feature Cullen’s final performance as Optimus, with Frank Welker returning to voice Megatron and Soundwave.

Welker’s response along with the announcement:

“*Optimus Prime and Megatron were made for each other. After all, one needs the perfect hero against the epitome of evil to create great drama. Peter’s portrayal of Prime was born of his own personal beliefs; honesty, loyalty, and always insisting on doing the right thing. This made it easy to be friends. Returning as Megatron and Soundwave for one final story opposite Peter’s Optimus in Optimus Prime: Awakening was a real gift. I will miss my friend, but that voice and his heart and values will always be part of Optimus Prime.”*

I’ll admit, there’s a cynical part of me that thinks they were gonna keep this under wraps longer, maybe until the day of premiere, but the news of Cullen’s passing forced them to switch gears.

Still, I’m really glad we’re gonna get one last ride with the old truck, especially since it’s animated by the guys that did Predator: Killer Of Killers.