Star Wars fans have given careful consideration to who they think would be the ideal human voice for R2-D2.
The fascinating topic came up in the r/StarWars subreddit when Redditor JimMcGill asked who fans thought would be best suited for the role.
NikolaiEgel suggested the incredibly versatile voice actor Patrick Warburton of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and received over one thousand upvotes.
Another Redditor proposed actors Mike Henry and Arif Zahir who voiced Cleveland Brown in The Family Guy and The Cleveland Show.
TheKentuckyMonkey choice of Danny DeVito’s distinctive down-to-earth dialect was even more popular among Star Wars fans.
Redditor Inkswamp agreed that DeVito would have been a perfect choice, pointing out that George Lucas had originally wanted a human voice for R2-D2, and was toying with the concept of one that was the diametrical opposite to the prim and proper Queen’s English spoken by C-3P0.
A less popular but very intriguing choice for the diminutive droid is none other than the legendary tough talker Mr. T.
However, Wookiee_Borg’s pick of the late Gilbert Gottfried proved to be the fan favorite. It’s heartwarming to see that while Gottfried may be gone, he’s certainly not forgotten.
The notion of R2-D2 developing a human voice is not all that far-fetched. In fact, all it would require is a simple software update. With the current advances in Artificial Intelligence technology, it is theoretically possible to use Gottfried’s offbeat voice for the droid. However, notoriously opinionated Star Wars fans might find this concept distasteful.
One thing fans seem to agree on is that R2-D2 strikes them as humorous and down-to-earth, a testament to how George Lucas skillfully communicated his intention for the character without using a human voice.
Star Wars is currently streaming on Disney Plus.