The coolest Sonic character may get his own movie

Sonic the Hedgehog’s big-screen world may be growing, with the franchise’s coolest character now rumored to be starring in his own movie. Get ready for a black-hearted evil, brave-hearted hero.

The blue blur’s first leap from gaming came in 1993’s Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, which paved the way for Sonic Underground and Sonic X as we sped into the millennium. Since then, we’ve had Sonic Boom and Netflix’s Sonic Prime, which reached its dreaded, somewhat divisive end last week.

And then there’s the live-action movies, with the first making its unexpectedly superb debut in 2020 after the initial tsunami of fan backlash. The sequel was similarly great, and it’s become the launchpad for not only a third movie, but a Knuckles spinoff series on Paramount Plus.

But that’s not all, if recent rumors are to be believed: Sonic’s best frenemy could be lighting up cinemas in his own film.

Shadow the Hedgehog spinoff may be in the works

A Shadow the Hedgehog spinoff is in development, according to scooper Daniel Richtman. This could be a movie, but it could also be a TV show, much like Knuckles.

Sonic 2’s post-credits scene was a huge tease: after cutting to Robotnik’s wreckage, a government agent reveals they found a secret file dating back 50 years. She says it “coordinates to a secret research facility… it was a black site, sir. Someone worked very hard to keep this hidden.”

“My god, Project Shadow,” Commander Walter responds, and we get a brief look at Shadow emerging from his frozen chamber.

Patrick Casey, who’s writing the threequel, earlier said (as per Murphy’s Multiverse): “He’s a match for Sonic, but like with such a different personality. And not like Knuckles, who is sort of mislead. Shadow is driven by anger and revenge, you know?

“I almost feel like Sonic, when he encounters Shadow, he’s like: ‘Well, I’ll just teach him about the power of friendship like with Knuckles, bada bing bada boom,’ but that not going to work on Shadow, you know? This is like, Sonic’s never had to deal with someone as emotionally damaged as Shadow but he has with Robotnik.”

Shadow is confirmed to appear in Sonic 3, but we still don’t know who’ll voice him. Keanu Reeves has been at the top of fan cast lists, while others like Nicolas Cage, Aaron Paul, Adam Driver, and the character’s original actor Jason Griffith have also circulated people’s predictions.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will speed into cinemas on December 20, 2024. You can find out more here.