Jennifer Hale ‘would love’ to return as Shepard for Mass Effect 5

Despite Mass Effect trilogy protagonist Commander Shepard perishing in all three of Mass Effect 3‘s endings, fans have speculated they may return for the series’ next entry, of which we know little. After all, a scene from the third game’s Destroy ending hints Shepard may not be dead. As Shepard voice actor Jennifer Hale revealed in a new interview with Polygon, she’d be over the moon if the venerable Normandy captain wasn’t dead.

Polygon recently spoke with Hale for a wide-ranging interview about how she brought Shepard to life. When asked if she had returned yet for the next entry, she contemplatively said, “I sure would love to.”

But Hale added a caveat to her desire. “I would love to continue Shepard’s story if it was what served the universe the best,” she said. “If not, maybe a distant relative of Shepard, or some entirely different species.”

Mass Effect’s Milky Way is home to many different (bangable) alien species, from the bird-like turians to the jellyfish-like hanar. But Hale went a little left field with her choice of alien species. “Vorcha […] Yeah, something weird.”

Vorcha are the sinewy, somewhat grotesque aliens that are often found as mercenaries. They’re characterized by blood-red eyes and way too many needle-like teeth to count. They have screeching, off-putting voices that were conceptualized by Mark Meer, the voice of BroShep. In fact, Meer conceptualized the way every alien sounds.

“When [BioWare was] first making Mass Effect, they asked Mark to come up with the sound of every single species in that game, every single one, every single alien race,” Hale said. “Mark was like, ‘Okay,’ and he just came up with ideas for them. And so they’re all based in Mark Meer’s brain. It’s just the coolest thing ever. He’s brilliant.”

While Meer may have played every vorcha in the original games, perhaps in the next Mass Effect, you’ll hear a Hale-voiced vorcha. Your move, BioWare.