Shadow the Hedgehog shows up in first pic from Sonic the Hedgehog 3

And the runaway success of the Sonic the Hedgehog movies continues. The first movie, loosely based on the long-running video game franchise about a little blue hedgehog who runs real fast, came out in 2020 and raked in some $300 million worldwide. The second followed in 2022 and picked up $400 million. The third one is due out in 2024, and the first image just dropped:

But wait, you say, Sonic doesn’t have black fur. He’s blue like a normal hedgehog. Also his shoes are different. We are looking here at the feet of Shadow the Hedgehog, one of Sonic’s many nemeses. He also showed up in a stinger at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, so it’s no surprise to see him back.

In video games, Shadow first turned up in Sonic Adventure 2 way back in 2001, where he was positioned as an edgy, grimdark doppelganger for our also-edgy-but-more-in-a-snarky-way lead character. One of the weirder chapters in Sonic history came with the 2005 release of Shadow the Hedgehog, where fans of this family-friendly franchise controlled this cartoon hedgehog as he roamed around a city shooting enemies with a gun.

The 2000s were weird, in retrospect and also while they were happening. A couple decades on, I’m betting that Paramount will keep slightly tighter control over the tonal consistency of these movies. The first two Sonic films were approachable action-comedies and I expect the third to follow suit, with perhaps a dash of 2000s-era emo ‘tude courtesy of Shadow.

We don’t know who’s voicing Shadow yet, but the rest of the cast is expected to return: that includes Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails, and Idris Elba as Knuckles. Then there are Sonic’s human buddies — this is a live-action/animation hybrid — including James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, and Shemar Moore.

If they can get Idris Elba to play Knuckles why not reach for the stars with Shadow? Anthony Hopkins? Daniel Day-Lewis? Who’s your suggestion? In any case, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is due out in theaters on December 20, 2024

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