Think about it. Les Enfants Terribles took place in 1972. The Phantom Pain takes place in 1984. Snake would be 12 years old at that point. Obviously Hayter won't voice a 12 year old Snake.

BUT.

Solid, Liquid and Solidus age rapidly! When Snake was 42, he looked like a man of between 65-70 (MGS4). This could mean that Hayter is voicing a 12 year old who looks, thinks, acts, and talks as if he were an 18-21 year old Solid Snake in The Phantom Pain. This could be the game that sets the foundation for Big Boss being targeted by FOXHOUND and the rise of Solid Snake!

So let's say Snake looked like he was 67 in MGS4. That's pretty agreeable, right? Considering he was basically dying of a mix of old age and fatigue by the end of it? If my math is right, Snake's physical and mental age seems to be about ((.595 x Y) + Y), with Y being his actual age. So if he was 12, it'd look as if he'd just turned 19.

Because really, having two characters talk in the same voice from the same voice actors is weird. Hence the hiring of Kiefer Sutherland. (Who BTW I think will do an amazing job)

PLEASE BE TRUE

I've got a better explanation. Nano-machines changed his voice.

But your idea is good too.

Thankfully MGSV takes place in the 80s so they can't pull nanomachines out of their ass like they did in MGS4... because they don't exist yet.

But Otacon's father actually developed the first Nanomachines in the 80s, which is also how Big Boss survives death at the end of Metal Gear 2. My uncle works at Konami, so I would know.

ITS A TRAP!!!!!!!!!

@xyzygy: Actually specifically with Solid Snake it was the Foxdie in his body that caused his rapid aging.(I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure about that.) I will say that I'm not entirely convinced as to take everything Kojima is saying at surface level. I think there are a few twists and turns to this whole thing yet.

But why is the Japanese voice actor the same then?

Oh shit I didn't know that. Huey made nanomachines? MGS4 is next on my list to replay.

Even still, they definitely wouldn't be as prevalent as they were in say 2009, during the Big Shell incident where almost everyone Raiden meets has nanos. I imagine their development would be included in MGSV.

But Skull Face better not be fucking skeleton come to life by nanomachines.

It wasn't the Foxdie in his system. It was a fault of what was essentially a cloning process that created him.

I'm afraid they made it clear that Snake's rapid aging only kicked in after MGS2. He grew to physical maturity at the same rate as everybody else, and the advanced aging kicked in once he was past his prime, to kill him early so that the advanced supersoldiers the project was designed to create couldn't hang around long enough to be swayed over to their enemies and defect.

I'm not sure how his voice actor is treated in pop culture of Japan. Over here, David Hayter IS Snake and he is essentially what you think of when you think MGS. That voice. But by saying that Kiefer Sutherland is voicing Big Boss, Kojima has a chance to pull a Raiden a la MGS2 with us and introduce David Hayter as Solid Snake. It won't be advertsied or marketed like Raiden wasn't.

Maybe they're getting a different voice actor for "Young Snake" over there, like we're getting a different one for "Old Snake" (not THE Old Snake haha)

@deusoma I was under the impression it was a part of the cloning process, as @hailinel said? Solidus and Liquid have it as well. And I don't recall it ever saying anything about Solidus being infected with FOXDIE

@xyzygy: I literally made that shit up off the top of my head. I'm glad that you almost believed me though, which shows how crazy Kojima's storytelling really is.

@hailinel: I could have sworn Naomi mentioned something to snake specifically regarding foxdie and his aging in chapter 2 when he meets her for the first time in South America.

Probably? /shrug

Voice actors in Japan (seiyuu) have a strata of celebrity comparable to screen actors in America. It's not even close. Imagine if Troy Baker was Jim Carrey.

A handful of people make petitions and twitter accounts in support of David Hayter. I would not be surprised if people poured gasoline over Kojima's car if he fired Akio Ōtsuka. It's not even close. The man dubbed William T. Riker. He is the guy you get for a testosterone role. I don't like the change either, but fame wise, Sutherland is in fact on Otsuka's level, and I'm sure he'll do an amazing job. (Also he automatically gets the hometown cred from me.)

I've had friends in the North America anime & VO industries (Texas & Toronto), so I'm not a distant observer here. :) The disparity between cultures is a very real conversation in the biz. And just for fun, here's my own photo at TGS 2006 with Otsuka on stage. The crowd reaction was immense.

Or perhaps they needed a guy who could do performane capture.

Was it because of his accelerated aging that foxdie was mutating, maybe? Or maybe it just naturally did so over time... Not sure; it's been 4-5 years since the last time I played through the game. But halinel is definitely right about the aging thing being due to the cloning process.

This is correct. Only Solidus was made to age rapidly from the get go.

Well, Liquid looks like a kid in V, soooo...

David Hayter voices David in MGSV.
I wonder

There are two big boses; Decoy Octopus(Punished Snake) and the real Big Boss.

Decoy is voiced by Sutherland and BB is voiced by Hayter.

I have been saying exactly the same thing the OP has been saying since the announcement, so I am fully on board with this thread.

Let it go

Snake hasn't always had rapid aging. He started aging rapidly after he reached a certain age because of an "insurance policy" they implemented during his creation to ensure he couldn't live long enough to rebel against them like Big Boss did. So, once he hit his "prime", the aging thing ramped up and his body started falling apart.

David Hayter was unceremoniously fired by Konami and honestly, I doubt he'd even come back if they did ask.

I liked Hayter as Snake, but after the hissy fit he pulled on twitter I'm not too bothered about Sutherland taking up the role. It'll be nice to see some change.

Yup.

Although for whatever reason, Solidus Snake's rapid aging process initiated a lot sooner than Solid Snake's. In any case Hayter is more than likely being held back to voice Solid Snake in the possible Metal Gear 1 & 2 remakes, if this truly is all one big con orchestrated by the two.

Though speaking of pre-teen Snakes...

To be honest, they've had enough different voice actors for what is supposed to be a clone of one person that I don't think we should expect any consistency or try to get a no-prize out of it either. After all, couldn't we then be making a case for Cam Clarke or John Cygan to come back? Where does Richard Doyle fit into it?

Sadly, one of the realities of voice acting is that the character has to be bigger than the person portraying him at some point. James Earl Jones isn't going to be Darth Vader forever, and if these characters are going to live on recasting becomes unavoidable. I'm surprised Hayter of all people didn't get that.

@yummylee: I thought it was because the Patriots needed a puppet president. And since Solidus was created a bit later than the twins, they fed him time fast forwarding potion so that he fulfills the age requirement for a U.S. president.

@thunderslash: Yeah, that sounds about right. Although I don't think you needed to spoiler it :P

I really hope there's something nuts lined up for MGSV that matches if not exceeds what happened with MGS2. But I can't see Hayter voicing Solid Snake unless there's a time jump somewhere.