Last week, with the arrival of the first trailer for the
Sonic the Hedgehog movie, the world was introduced to Paramount's pseudo-realistic take on the iconic, blue speedster. Suffice it to say, fans were not pleased. Many complained about the character's anatomy and uncanny aura, Sonic possessing more of a human phsyique than he ever has previously.
The negative backlash against Sonic the Hedgehog's redesign became so abundant and severe that the upcoming film's director took to social media to announce that, in response to the criticism, the character's design will in-fact be redone (again). Of course, the criticisers were pleased by this,
even the speedster's creator was, but some were left conflicted.
Many believed that the director and studio bending their knee to the backlash would set a bad precedent. The situation could lead fans' entitlement to grow and thus thwart creative expression. This is basically how, renowned game-director, Cory Barlog felt after finding out the news.
The director of
God of War recently took to Twitter (
@CoryBarlog) to share a statement on the matter, it went as such:
"Really don't know how I feel about creating in this kind of world. Important to keep the pulse of the audience but this makes it harder to try something really different that, at first may seem like too much change, but on completion might surprise us."
Sonic the Hedgehog is a live-action adventure comedy based on the global blockbuster videogame franchise from Sega that centers on the infamously brash bright blue hedgehog. The film follows the (mis)adventures of Sonic as he navigates the complexities of life on Earth with his newfound – human – best friend Tom Wachowski (James Marsden). Sonic and Tom join forces to try and stop the villainous Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) from capturing Sonic and using his immense powers for world domination. The film also stars Tika Sumpter and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic.
Sonic the Hedgehog speeds into theaters on the November 7th, 2019.