In Sonic the Hedgehog 2's post-credits scene, Shadow the Hedgehog finally made his live-action debut. G.U.N. Commander Sam Walters was first to mention the secret research facility from half a century ago housing "Project: Shadow," though with Agent Stone in close earshot, it appears he will be teaming up with Gerald Robotnik's creation to avenge his grandson, Eggman.
Now, Paramount Pictures has confirmed Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be released as planned on December 20, 2024. There had been some concerns about possible delays caused by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, but we needn't have worried.
With that news comes a teaser showing Shadow very much awake and ready to race into action. The character's iconic boots are hard to miss and, upon closer inspection, this appears to be a photo of the stand-in which will be used on set to give actors something to play off.
One thing this teaser image doesn't reveal is who will lend their voice to Shadow. Keanu Reeves remains a fan-favourite suggestion, and after Idris Elba was enlisted to play Knuckles in both Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and his own spin-off TV series, we're anticipating an A-Lister filling the role.
"Shadow is clearly going to be in the franchise moving forward," writer Josh Miller said last year "I don’t think it’s revealing anything to say we’d love to incorporate elements from Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog, his solo spinoff game." The latter was poorly received by gamers, though there's definitely material in there that could be useful to the next movie.
Jeff Fowler will be back in the director's chair, with Ben Schwartz (Sonic the Hedgehog), Colleen O'Shaughnessey (Miles "Tails" Prower), Idris Elba (Knuckles the Echidna), James Marsden (Tom Wachowski), and Tika Sumpter (Maddie Wachowski) all set to reprise their respective roles from the first two movies.
Jim Carrey's future as Dr. Robotnik is currently unclear as the sequel left his fate somewhat ambiguous, presumably in case the actor makes good on his plans to retire from acting. What we do know is there are no plans to recast the villain, news which has been welcomed by fans.
Check out this first look at Sonic the Hedgehog 3 below and stay tuned for more on the threequel as we have it.