Borderlands 3 News: Troy Baker says he wanted to be in the game but was told he wasn't returning

An aged Rhys in Borderlands 3
An aged Rhys in Borderlands 3

When the trailer for Borderlands 3 dropped, fans of the series were looking in every corner for characters they were hoping would make a return. From old Vault Hunters to wacky NPCs, the trailer was riddled with the cast from both Borderlands 1 and 2. We even saw a few familiar faces from the TellTale title Tales from the Borderlands make an appearance.

Rhys was one of the two main protagonists in Tales, the other being Fiona, that the player controlled throughout the story driven title. An employee of the Hyperion Corporation, he dreamt of one day becoming the next Handsome Jack, a goal that, oddly enough, was understood by the vast majority of people he came across. However, by the end of the game, Rhys had parted with Hyperion, and was now the CEO and owner of Atlas, a company that was absent in Borderlands 2.

With Rhys now running the corporation and surrounded by members of the Crimson Lance, it's clear that he'll be a pretty important character in the story. Which makes it strange that his original voice actor, Troy Baker, isn't involved in the project.

According to Gearbox's Randy Pitchford, Baker turned down the role, but felt that fans won't really notice the difference when the game comes out. Baker, on the other hand, has stated that this couldn't be further from the truth.

In a recent tweet, Baker stated that, not only was he never approached to reprise his role in Borderlands 3, he was told that he wasn't needed in the game at all. In an interview with OnlySP, Baker made it clear how much he wanted to voice Rhys again.

I said I would love to come back. They [Gearbox Software] said I'm not coming back. Their timeline tells an interesting story. I think it's interesting that Randy Pitchford tweeted out that I turned it down, then said he heard that I turned it down. I would fact check before I tweeted out to the internet.

If this is true, then it seems like another blunder on the part of Gearbox, who have already aggravated fans with their decision to launch as an exclusive on the Epic Store on PC. If they also intentionally told an actor not to come back to play a fan favorite character, that would surely upset Borderlands players even more.

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