Will Mudflap and Skids Appear in Transformers 3

After the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Autobots Mudflap (voiced by Reno Wison) and Skids (voiced by Tom Kenny) were the center of controversy, as many viewers felt the Autobot Twins exhibited offensive racial stereotypes — such as urban slang, bug eyes, and a gold tooth.

Defending himself against racial allegations, director of the Transformers series Michael Bay told the Associated Press:

We’re just putting more personality in. I don’t know if it’s stereotypes – they are robots, by the way. These are the voice actors. This is kind of the direction they were taking the characters and we went with it.

Racist or not? Watch the Transformers 2 trailer and a commercial featuring the Twins below and decide for yourself:

In the trailer, the questionable comment occurs around :58 when
Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) says: Can you read this?
The Twins reply: Nah, we don’t really do much reading.

The Twins also endorse fast food in a Burger King commercial, where towards the end one remarks: “Could be a crackhead.”

Take a look.

It is unconfirmed whether the Twins will appear in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Though Bay is adamant that they will not, sources report photos of the autobots at the TF3 the set.

But will the stereotypes end with the removal of Skids and Mudflap? Maybe not.

Abramovitch from Movieline says:

That’s nothing compared to 2011, when Transformers 3’s Blowout and Diva — a swishy pair of hairdryer and disco ball Autobots who insist on calling each other “girlfriend” and telling Optimus Prime to “talk to the hand” every time he gives them an order — are introduced to the world.