For those paying attention to all the TV spots that have aired over the last week weeks, there is one character that has not been shown - Sentinel Prime. Bay's desire to keep the character a mystery has been a minor blessing for Leonard Nimoy who has been able to avoid all the press conferences and the like as he continues to do what is likely his final year of Star Trek Conventions. That didn't stop Big Fanboy from sitting down with the voice of Sentinel to find out how he scored to role (helps to be related to the director and have voiced Galvatron in the 1986 cartoon movie).

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A little over a week ago Entertainment Weekly revealed that Leonard Nimoy was cast as the voice of Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. What the article lacked was comment from anyone associated with the production. That has now been corrected in the latest issue on newsstands now as Nimoy briefly comments on the "run" role and "complex" character. The article is reproduced below to avoid the eye strain of reading the picture.

Leonard Nimoy unretires for Transformers sequel

Leonard Nimoy knows this sounds a little illogical. After announcing his retirement last April in the wake of his Spock role in J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek reboot and his guest turn on TV's Fringe, the 80-year-old actor has now signed on as the voice of long-lost Autobot leader Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. "I'm doing it! I'm doing it! I'm back-back after, what is it, 25 years or something?" says Nimoy, referring to his work as the voice of Galvatron in 1986's animated The Transformers: The Movie.

"I have been through many resurrections in my career," he says. "I have died and come back. I have left and come back. I've been canceled and come back. I did intend to not do any more work. And the fact is, I don't consider this work. This is great fun." Nimoy is also rumored to be the voice of the dragon Smaug in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, though he says only: "I have heard about that rumor, and that's all I know about it."

Nimoy has already recorded two sessions with Transformers director Michael Bay. "I don't think I'm very privy to any plot points, but I'm seeing some interesting footage." Asked to describe Sentinel Prime, Nimoy says, "Complex," and then "Why are you laughing?" Then he laughs too. -Anthony Breznican

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Leonard Nimoy is joining the voice cast of Transformers: Dark of the Moon as the voice of Sentinel Prime.

Mr. Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy, has joined the film as the voice of Sentinel Prime, the predecessor of Optimus Prime whose wrecked body is seen in the teaser trailer, found crash-landed on the moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969. Later, after being brought to earth, he takes the disguise form of a fire engine in the movie’s massive, climactic battle through Chicago.

Nimoy is most famous for the role of Spock in Star Trek and might be familiar recently as William Bell in Fringe. This isn't his first foray into the world of Transformers as he voiced Galvatron in Transformers: The Movie.

The idea of Leonard Nimoy returning to the TF universe has been around for a few years now as many fans advocated him voicing a character in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Back in April 2009 Michael Bay was asked about this possibility and he responded, "[Nimoy] is married to Susan Bay, who’s a cousin to me,” Michael explained, saying that he’s afraid of insulting his relative with the mere pittance allotted to pay his voice actors. “I just feel kind of bad about asking him. Like ‘I can’t pay you that much? But would you do this voice?’" This was followed up a week later with Leonard Nimoy himself who simply said that Bay had to just ask.

Apparently has asked and Nimoy has accepted. Even better it seems the character of Sentinel Prime is a rather important one in DOTM so it might just be a few lines like it might have been if Bay had tried to get him for Revenge. EW tends to be right on the mark with their reports but since no one official with the movie is quoted, I have very slight reservations. I hope Bay comments on his forum confirming this news soon. Thanks to GundamFan89, Chris, Sean and Ryan for the heads-up.