Idris Elba confirms that he doesn’t intend to play his Sonic the Hedgehog 2 character as “sexy,” but with these fans he may not have a say.
From The Wire to Luther and beyond, Idris Elba has a certain screen presence. He’s suave, debonair, and collected. There’s a reason he was a favorite to play the next James Bond. And soon enough he’ll be lending his voice to another icon: Knuckles the echidna from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
Yes, Elba will appear in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, coming to a theater near you next year. It’s gonna be a little strange hearing his distinctive voice coming out of that big red fist-fighting mammal (the only one known to lay eggs, FYI), but Elba has thought about his approach down. Here’s what he said when Screen Rant asked him where Knuckles will into his legacy of super-smooth characters:
"Honestly, I cannot say. Contractually, I cannot say anything. But I wouldn’t say he was sexy. I don’t think I’m going for that. That’s for sure."
Sure, Elba, you won’t try to be sexy. But with Sonic fans, it might be out of your hands; the fandom has a well-known penchant for taking little fuzzy animals meant to entertain children and…flipping them, if you will. (That link is just informational, don’t worry.) Sonic fans are the best in the world at what they do, and what they do is…pretty out there sometimes.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 comes out on April 8, 2022. Then it’s out of all of our hands.
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h/t The A.V. Club