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How writing X-Men allowed Good Guy David Hayter to get his fellow Metal Gear Solid actors back for future games

The Solid Snake actor was offered a pay rise after her wrote a hit movie, but he used it to get his castmates back.

Metal Gear Solid Delta Walking In Water — Image credit: Konami

News by Trent Cannon, Senior Contributing writer

Published on Thu Nov 06 2025

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One of the remarkable things about the Metal Gear Solid franchise is that much of the English voice cast has stuck around in their respective roles for decades now. This has given a wonderful level of consistency to their performances over the years, and it turns out we have Solid Snake himself to thank for it. David Hayter not only insisted that Konami bring back the rest of the cast for the sequels but also sacrificed some of his own paycheck to make it happen.

During the Metal Gear Solid panel at New York Comic Con 2025, the cast talked about the possibility of returning to their roles for future games or remakes in the wake of the Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater remake. “It’s because of David that we all are here,” Tasia Valenza, who has played Sniper Wolf in multiple instalments in the franchise. “He is the true hero of Metal Gear.”

She’s not just saying that because Hayter plays Solid Snake, either. “Somebody asked me, ‘Do you think it will be all of you again if they rerecorded [Metal Gear Solid]?’ and I said, ‘If David has anything to say about it, it will.’” She went on to explain exactly why she knows Hayter would make sure that they can all come back for future games – because he’s done it before.

“In between the time the remake happened, David Hayter, wonderful actor, also became David Hayter, writer of X-Men. So if you didn’t know that, that’s another thing that’s super cool about him, he’s the writer of X-Men. And so his price went up a little bit when they said, ‘We want to do this again with you,’ and David was like, ‘And it’s gonna cost you this much money.’ And they said, ‘Okay, but we’ll probably recast everyone else then.’ And David said, ‘No, you won’t. You’re gonna keep the people that were with us, and you can take it out of my paycheck to take care of them.’ And he is and was the reason we are all together and are forever grateful because he’s a heck of a nice guy on top of being a brilliant actor and writer. So that’s why we know that we’ll be [in it] again; because he won’t do it without us.”

That isn’t the only thing that David Hayter has fought to get his co-stars. He also insists that every Metal Gear Solid game is recorded the same way they did the first one; together. “We did the first game as like a radio play,” Hayter said during the same panel. “We had like five mics. We’re all in the same room. And it was awesome. It just all brought the scenes to life. And so I did… I’m really kinda bossy, I guess.”
“No, you’re a leader,” countered Jennifer Hale, who was sitting right next to him.

“But I had it put in my contract that we’d do it together,” Hayter admitted. “That all the games are done together.”

So that’s twice that David Hayter has gone out on a limb to support his fellow Metal Gear Solid voice actors. If you want to see the whole Metal Gear Solid panel from NYCC 2025, you can catch it here on Popverse on December 3, 2025, but only if you’re a Popverse Member. Find out about Popverse memberships here.

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