With the release of its first trailer, the hype for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has shot through the roof, as fans prepare themselves for the follow-up to the surprisingly enjoyable 2020 movie. But the online reaction was totally different to the first trailer for the original film. Infamously, that revealed a hideous semi-realistic design for Sonic, causing such an outcry that Sony went back to the drawing board and recreated the character’s look from scratch.
In the full film and its sequel, then, Sonic appears much more in keeping with his video game self. In some alternate universe out there, though, we might’ve been stuck with the shudder-inducing original design for the heroic hedgehog through both movies. This horrifically hilarious fan poster, shared by u/novusanimis on the r/SonicTheHedgehog subreddit, imagines what it would be like if Scary Sonic survived into the sequel… and was joined by a Tails from your nightmares.
In fact, the aborted Sonic design was even worse than this. As shown in that OG trailer, he had spindly white-furred fingers instead of his signature gloves and his body proportions made him weirdly lanky. The result was something that had well and truly wandered into the uncanny valley. The character’s rehaul was definitely to the franchise’s benefit, then, even if it did cause an unenviable amount of extra work for the animation team.
While it’s doubtful a follow-up would even have happened if the design hadn’t changed, Sonic 2 promises to continue the fan-pleasing nature of the first film. On top of Tails (video game actress Colleen O’Shaughnessey) making his debut and Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik assuming his classic look, Idris Elba is entering the fray as iconic echidna Knuckles, who the trailer teases will make mincemeat of Sonic, as he’s manipulated by Eggman into teaming up with him.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 races into theaters on April 8, 2022. Thankfully, it won’t look anything like this fan poster.
Published: Dec 12, 2021 09:37 am