Sonic the Hedgehog 3 sets the stage for a Sonic Heroes parade in Sonic 4, but director Jeff Fowler is keeping his rings close to his chest. (Spoilers to follow.)
Sonic 3 is influenced heavily by two games: Shadow the Hedgehog (one of Fowler’s first jobs was animating him for the 2005 game) and particularly Sonic Adventure 2, the first appearance of the black-and-red blur in SEGA’s long-running franchise.
Not only does Sonic 3 include its iconography and music (yes, we get ‘Live and Learn’, and it’s incredible), but its story has close parallels with the game; Shadow wants vengeance for what happened to Maria until he realizes the error of his ways, they find (and stop) the Eclipse Cannon, and Sonic and Shadow use the Chaos Emeralds to assume their Super forms.
So, given what happens in Sonic 3’s post-credits scenes, you’d be fair to assume Sonic Heroes could be the primary inspiration for the next movie. However, don’t expect many answers from the director… yet.
Why Sonic 4 could be inspired by Sonic Heroes
By the end of Sonic 3, the Eclipse Cannon has been destroyed, Robotnik appears to be dead, Shadow is still alive, and Sonic meets two new characters: Metal Sonic (villain!) and Amy Rose (hero!).
Not only was Sonic Heroes the next mainline game in the franchise after Sonic Adventure 2, the groundwork has been laid for it serving as the foundation of Sonic 4.
Think about it: in Sonic Heroes, Sonic and Tails receive a letter from Eggman warning them about his plan to launch his Egg Fleet and take over the world. By the end, they discover it wasn’t Robotnik who contacted them: it was Metal Sonic, who betrayed his master in an arrogant and evil bid to prove he’s superior to Sonic.
Picture the scene: at the start of Sonic 4, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails are living peacefully in Green Hills when they uncover a new villainous plot. They’re confused, given Robotnik’s fate aboard the Eclipse Cannon, but they pursue the lead… and it leads them to Metal Sonic, who’s angry after Amy Rose intervened in Sonic 3’s post-credits scene.
Amy Rose’s debut also suggests Sonic Heroes will be the main inspiration for the fourth film, and who knows, maybe Fowler will finally introduce Big the Cat.
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Sonic 3 director wants to “cherry pick” for Sonic 4
In an interview with Dexerto, Fowler didn’t name any specific games, but he insisted he wants to “honor and celebrate” other games in the series.
”I think the way we love working is just cherry-picking ideas that we think fans would be excited about and they go into a sort of melting pot,” he explained.
“Obviously, with Sonic 3 going back to Sonic Adventure 2 where Shadow first appeared, it felt like that was the most obvious place to really be pulling story points and just the vibe that we think fans would get excited about seeing. So that was a very specific sort of focus.
“In terms of where things go from here, I think there’s a lot of inspiring elements and a lot of games that could influence it. You know, I don’t want to get too specific, but I will say the thing that’s always the most exciting for our team is when we’re coming to the end of one journey on a movie, and we plant those seeds for where things might go next, it’s hard to not just immediately get excited about all the possibilities.”
There are other rogue (or should I say Rouge) possibilities; for example, the final Sonic 3 trailer used a dramatic mix of ‘His World’ from Sonic ’06, teasing (or perhaps this is just wishful thinking) that we could see a live-action Silver one day.
Fowler said he was “very familiar” with Sonic ’06, as he helped animate some of the game’s cinematic scenes. “ We cast a wide net, and it always comes down to… what [games] are the best fit? What are the best pieces? Because, you know, we always want to honor and celebrate the games,” he continued.
“There’s always a natural overlap between the movie stories and the game stories, and so it really is just identifying what’s the best fit for the puzzle.”
In the meantime, find out more about the Sonic 3 Build-A-Bear collab. You can also check out our list of the best video game movies and the best movies of 2024.
