‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ poster teases a four-way face-off

The latest Sonic the Hedgehog 2 poster teases a four-way face-off. 2020’s first Sonic movie took it easy when adapting the Sonicverse’s vast array of characters for the movies, focusing on the rivalry between the spiked speedster (Ben Schwartz) and Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and holding off Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) until the post-credits scene. But the incoming sequel will make up for that by dropping Idris Elba’s — strangely sexy — Knuckles the Echidna into the mix, too.

And with Knuckles teaming up with Carrey’s Eggman, Sonic and Tails have their work cut out for them in saving Green Hills and the whole world yet again. This cool new poster — as shared by the official Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account — depicts the four leads in profile, teeing up the big showdown that’s to come, with the tagline reading “Ready 2 Rumble.”

We last saw Robotnik marooned on the mushroom planet, but he’ll return to Earth with his new ally Knuckles in this movie, as he tries to get his hands on the Chaos Emeralds. This plot framework is actually borrowed from the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 game, so going by that, fans are expecting Knuckles to eventually switch sides and team up to stop the villain alongside Sonic and Tails.

This certainly won’t be the last time we’ll see Elba in the role, as a Knuckles spinoff TV series has already been announced, as has a third movie. This is just the beginning of the expansion of the Sonicverse, then, so maybe we should expect a few surprise cameos in this one. Folks are definitely hoping to see the likes of Shadow, Amy Rose, and Metal Sonic make appearances soon.

With James Marsden and Tika Sumpter also reprising their characters from the first film, Paramount Pictures’ Sonic the Hedgehog 2 races into theaters in just under a month’s time on April 8.