It was about a year ago when we learned that for the first time in the history of the Metal Gear Solid series that David Hayter wouldn't be lending his vocal talents for the gravel voiced protagonist, and all the fan petitions in the world wouldn't bring him back. Kojima's mind was made up, saying "It's a new type of 'Metal Gear' game, and we want to have this reflected in the voice actor as well," and Kiefer Sutherland is that new actor.
The news disappointed fans as much as it did Hayter, and rightly so. Hayter's been the English voice actor for Snake for 11 games in all (12 if you count Super Smash Bros. Brawl) ever since the first Metal Gear Solid on the original PlayStation in 1998. Snake without Hayter is akin to Batman without Kevin Conroy. Still, Hayter was grateful for both the role and the kind words from fans when he first learned his time as Snake had finally come to a close, noting as much during a recent JoypadAndMe podcast.
"It has been very touching," Hayter said, revealing that since Ground Zeroes' release last month, "hundreds upon hundreds" of fans had contacted him via Twitter to tell him how much they missed him. The intriguing notion of Hayter's return was also brought up, something fans are obviously more than interested in. Two dedicated fans even went so far as to take Hayter's audio from older Metal Gear games, and dub it over the ending of Ground Zeroes.
With Phantom Pain meant to complete the Metal Gear Solid circle and tie the timeline to the original 1987 Metal Gear, the idea of remakes have been suggested. While nothing's been formally announced by either Konami or Kojima, Hayter sees it as the next logical step.
"You've got this huge chunk of timeline that you care about and would like to see re-expressed," he said, adding in how well it would complement the idea of history repeating itself. If Konami came knocking at Hayter's door to work on just such a project?
"If Konami wants me to do it, they can come to me and we will work it out, and I would do it...I would do it if they asked me, because I love the character, and I feel very close to him. So I would certainly come back and do it if I were asked."
But even if that day never comes, Hayter "can let it go if that's the way it ends up going."
