Transformers: Best Megatron Voice Actors

Megatron is the dreaded leader of the Decepticons and the sworn enemy of Optimus Prime, and with that, Transformers and pop culture have one of the greatest villains. Megatron is a true menace, and his ruthless savagery and demented ideals for Cybertron have been displayed in both his cruel actions and his spoken words, given such gravitas by immense talent over the years.

Megatron holds strong not only as a great character from Transformers because of his design and writing, but also for the vocal talent attributed to him. Over the decades, Megatron has been played by various performers, and all of them add their own unique spin to the character.

8 David Kaye

Cocky and Smugness Hold this Predacon

• Featured in: Transformers: Beast Wars (1996-1999)

The Predacon variant of Megatron from the Beast Wars series has far different attributes than when compared to other versions of the character, and that’s not just in the physical design. David Kaye provides a menacing, yet regal approach to Megatron’s voice, one of superiority and class over spitting bile.

This is a Megatron that knows he is a cut above the rest, and he isn’t shy about it. This Megatron holds both smugness and confidence befitting of a Decepticon leader who just doesn’t know when to quit, and David Kaye presents Megatron in a sophisticated light.

7 Marc Thompson

A Megatron That’s Unrelentingly Vicious in Tone

• Featured in: Transformers: Cyberverse (2018-2021)

Marc Thompson’s Megatron went a step above the competition to provide a voice that fits the menacing nature of the Decepticon leader. Marc Thompson’s Megatron has a bile-spewing voice, one that is venomous with each word spoken as if there is much that angers and disgusts this rendition of the character who just wants to kill and conquer.

It’s a voice work that feels directly inspired by Frank Welker. There’s a veteran crackling in the vocal tones that demand to be the champion of new life to Cybertron. It’s a great portrayal that doesn’t skimp out on the harshness of Megatron’s voice.

6 Jason Marnocha

Passionate, Manipulative, and Cunning

• Featured in: Transformers: War for Cybertron (2020-2021)

Jason Marnocha’s Megatron presents a stoic and villainous portrayal of the Transformers: War for Cybertron trilogy, and his voice remains calm and manipulative as he speaks to those who oppose him, and those who bend the knee to him. This is a Megatron who seeks to conquer and claim victory over Autobots and Optimus Prime, and shows no loyalty to those beneath him.

Marnocha’s Megatron voice also benefits from a subtle synthesizer, and it provides a robotic growl to the voice that leaves lasting impressions on audiences that can really hear the metallic alien of Megatron that seeks great power.

5 Fred Tatasciore

A Strong and Booming Villain

• Featured in: Transformers: War for Cybertron (2010), Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (2012)

Fred Tatasciore impresses with his own Megatron, which both serves as an inspired role from Hugo Weaving, while also bringing in his own rendition of the character. Fred Tatasciore’s Megatron shouts with each line, booming on the battlefield to command the fealty of his Decepticon allies and throw fear into those who oppose him.

Fred Tatasciore’s Megatron makes for a great Megatron who seeks to be the master of all, and as the leader of the Decepticons, a voice such as this is needed to command legions and armies of Decepticons against the waged war on Autobots.

4 Hugo Weaving

The Live-Action Megatron Who Spues the Hate and Jealousy of a Tyrant

• Featured in: Transformers (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Despite harboring no real love for Megatron’s character, Hugo Weaving didn’t skimp out on one ounce of talent when it came to providing Megatron with a voice in live-action. Hugo Weaving’s Megatron is regal and has a voice that seeks the throne of Cybertron and of the newly invaded planet of Earth that works so well with such a sharp design.

Hugo Weaving’s Megatron features a trilogy of live-action movies that work wonderfully within each movie. With each movie, it seems that Weaving’s Megatron rots both physically and vocally, and his withering and venomous voice befits a true villain for the ages.

3 Brian Tyree Henry

A Rageful and Betrayed Origin for Megatron

• Featured in: Transformers One (2024)

Brian Tyree Henry is the newest voice for Megatron with 2024’s Transformers One, and it’s a voice that’s both familiar and unique. Brian Tyree Henry provides his own take on Megatron through the origins of a cogless D-16, with elements of the true Megatron slowly creeping forward as Megatron’s ideology becomes clearer to him with each betrayal of Iacon and Cybertron.

Brian Tyree Henry’s Megatron voice is booming and rageful, and with each shouting and rousing speech, it sounds reminiscent of Terrence C. Carson’s Kratos from the original God of War games. Brian Tyree Henry has a distinct Megatron that works wonderfully as an origin for the character.

2 Corey Burton

Immortalized Menacing That Feeds on Fear

• Featured in: Transformers Animated (2007-2009)

Corey Burton is a veteran voice actor who is famed for playing legendary alien villains like DC’s Brainiac, but his Megatron is one of the best out there. Corey Burton provides a cold voice to Megatron, one that lacks emotional reasoning to provide a slyness that only he would be capable of providing the great Megatron.

Corey Burton thrives in bringing villains to life, and Megatron is no ordinary villain, which is why Corey’s voicework lends itself so well to the character, for there is a ruthless calculation in Megatron’s methods and manipulation bound to this portrayal.

1 Frank Welker

The Original and Ultimate Megatron

• Featured in: The Transformers (1984-1987), Transformers Prime (2010-2013), Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

Frank Welker is one of the greatest voice actors of all time, and when he’s not making audiences laugh as Scooby-Doo, he’s scaring them with his ultimately menacing Megatron, a character who he has voiced for decades, and hopefully decades more. Welker’s Megatron is the original and the best for good reason, as he exhibits a deepened voice that commands attention and loyalty from fellow Decepticons.

Only Frank Welker’s performance as Megatron can rival that of Peter Cullen’s Optimus Prime, and their on-screen rivalry is on par with that of Hamill’s Joker and Conroy’s Batman. What makes Welker’s voice so great is how it adapts to emotion and scene, and there’s a calmness to his menace or a refined rage that is untethered.