The Sonic the Hedgehog universe is about to get a little bigger when Shadow the Hedgehog makes his on-screen debut later this year. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is the most ambitious movie in the franchise yet, finally bringing everyone’s favorite anti-hero into the story.
Keanu Reeves will voice Shadow in the movie, marking one of the most perfect character castings we’ve seen in a long time. His character will appear alongside the previous Sonic cast which includes Jim Carrey as Doctor Eggman, Ben Schwartz as Sonic, and Idris Elba as Knuckles.
Both Elba and Reeves recently spoke with ComicBook.com about their characters and what could be next, and during this interview, the pair pitched something any Sonic fan would undoubtedly be dying to see — a team-up between Shadow and Knuckles, of course!
Elba: “I’m telling you… While there’s an opportunity for a clever combination of the two characters into a unique title like Shadow Knuckles,”
Reeves: “No, Knuckles and Shadow.”
Elba: “Shadow Knuckles sounds like a band.”
Of course, this does nothing to confirm the existence of such a spinoff, but we would be lying if we said the idea doesn’t get us excited. Shadow and Knuckles are two of the most popular characters in all of the Sonic franchise, so seeing them team up on screen for their own project would truly be a sight to behold.
Adding fuel to the speculative fire of possibility, Knuckles has already received his own spinoff from the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, in the form of a TV show exclusive to Paramount Plus. This shows that the Paramount team is committed to expanding the universe outside of theatrical releases, and Shadow would seem like the perfect character to continue this trend with, perhaps courtesy of a cameo.
Rumors have already been circulating that a Shadow movie spinoff is in the works. Industry insider Daniel Ritchtman previously said that Paramount is planning to give Shadow his own spinoff film should the third Sonic the Hedgehog film perform well enough. According to early reviewers, the film has completed that task, so why couldn’t this potential Shadow spinoff involve a team-up with Knuckles?
That being said, everything relies on how Sonic the Hedgehog 3 performs. Fortunately, the first reactions to the film have been majorly positive, and if the previous two movies are anything to go off, it’s on the path to success.
Sonic the Hedgehog has currently got an incredible audience score of 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes which has only been bested by its sequel which is sitting pretty with 96 percent. Perhaps the third film will be able to push this even higher.
For anyone who saw the first look of Sonic on screen that was shared prior to the first movie before being completely retooled, hearing that the series has become a success might be a major shock. Yes, Sonic looked that bad. Fortunately, the team tidying things up and has since crafted one of the best video game adaptions we’ve ever seen on the big screen.
Fingers crossed that Shadow is just as awesome as expected in this upcoming threequel and that the success of the movie will eventually allow us to get the Shadow and Knuckles spinoff that we’re hoping for. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be released in theaters on Dec. 20, 2024.
Published: Dec 11, 2024 01:29 am