Metroid Prime, at least until this week’s release of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, is largely devoid of spoken dialogue – especially when it comes to its quiet protagonist, Samus Aran. However, an unused monologue was recorded for the original Metroid Prime but was eventually discovered by fans, leaving its performer unknown. Until now.
IGN recently spoke with legendary Mass Effect and Metal Gear Solid voice actress (among many, many others), Jennifer Hale, who provided the voice of Samus – purely grunts and strain sounds – in the original Metroid Prime trilogy. When we spoke to her (and before it was confirmed). it was replaced by 2025’s Metroid Prime 4) we thought we would get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the person who voiced this once-lost voiceover that was left on the cutting room floor.
For the uninitiated, this monologue goes as follows:
“Ten years ago, beneath the surface of the planet Zebes, the mercenaries known as the Space Pirates were defeated by the interstellar bounty hunter Samus Aran. Descending to the very core of the Pirate stronghold, Samus exterminated the energy-based parasites called Metroids and defeated Mother Brain, leader of the Pirate horde. However, the Space Pirates were far from finished. Several pirate research ships circled around Zebes, while as Samus fought to the surface below. After the fall of Mother Brain, the ships fled in hopes of finding enough resources to rebuild their forces and exact revenge. After discovering a possible pirate colony on the planet Tallon IV, Samus once again prepared for war, hoping to end the pirate threat forever.
Since Hale is Samus’ most famous voice, one would assume she also recorded these introductory lines to the world of Prime. Well, you’d be wrong.
“It’s Vanessa. Vanessa Marshall,” Hale reveals. Perhaps this isn’t a surprise, as Marshall is already credited with lending his talents to the voice of Samus in Metroid Prime, most notably contributing his death scream to the sound library. Marshall also starred alongside Hale in Marvel’s Midnight Suns as well as Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty as Olga, and may be familiar to animated TV fans as the voice of Hera Syndulla in Star Wars’ Rebels and Bad Batch.
Hale says she’s not sure why Retro Studios and Nintendo chose Marshall over Hale for this potential monologue and then dropped it anyway. “I love Vanessa,” Hale adds. “I love that we actually shared the role. It’s crazy and I’m not sure why. I never remember saying no. I would never say no. Maybe they would have preferred her job. I have no idea.”
While Hale couldn’t record these fully formed lines, he did get the lion’s share of the hard work on Metroid Prime. This seems like an intriguing process, which she then explains in more detail:
While this once-lost introductory narration was never used in the original Metroid Prime, snippets of the monologue later saw the light of day thanks to Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Jay Ward, who voiced Star Fox’s Wolf O’Donnel in the Nintendo fighting game series, re-recorded certain parts of this game, which were placed under the Opening/Menu – Metroid Prime track on the soundtrack.
Who knows where this monologue will appear next and why it was never used in the final game. At least for now, thanks to Samus herself, some of that mystery has been solved. Would you like the introductory narrative to be retained? While I love the solitary, wordless nature of Metroid Prime, I like the “Ripley at the end of Alien” vibe it gives the game. Let us know what you think in the comments.
For more information on Metroid Prime, check it out our review of Metroid Prime 4: Beyondand more from Jennifer Hale, read all about why she would love to return to the Mass Effect series as Commander Shepard or “whoever” BioWare wants.
Simon Cardy is a senior editor at IGN who can mostly be found hanging around open-world games, watching Korean cinema, or moping about the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
