‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ Will Be the Darkerst Movie Yet and I Can’t Wait

By some miracle, one simple character redesign got Paramount a lucrative franchise. After the first trailer for 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog became an immediate punchline for the infamous new design of its title character, the creative team went back to the drawing board and eventually delivered a movie that somehow pleased (most of) the Sonic fanbase. On top of pleasing longtime fans of the Blue Blur and newcomers alike, it even broke the video game movie curse, earning mostly favorable reviews and huge box office returns. The sequel two years later proved an even bigger hit and was widely considered an improvement.

Now, this weekend sees the release of the most highly-anticipated installment yet, Sonic the Hedgehog 3. This chapter will see our titular character face off against fan-favorite anti-hero Shadow the Hedgehog, voiced by internet boyfriend Keanu Reeves. Each film in the series has been more faithful to the video games than the last, and Sonic 3 looks to continue that trend, seemingly adapting one of the most beloved games, Sonic Adventure 2. On top of that, it looks like by far the darkest movie in the franchise so far, and we’re all here for it.

‘Sonic 3’ Looks to Go in a Darker Direction

Considering the source material being adapted, it seems inevitable that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be a significantly darker chapter. As previously mentioned, the movie is taking heavy inspiration from 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2, which saw the debut of Shadow the Hedgehog, as he teamed up with Dr. Robotnik to, you guessed it, steal the Chaos Emeralds.

It was by far one of the darkest games in the series, notably because of Shadow’s tragic backstory. Through genetic engineering, Shadow was created by Professor Gerald Robotnik (who will appear in the film, also played by Jim Carrey), who wished to cure his granddaughter Maria from a terminal illness. As Gerald continued experimenting on his creation, Shadow formed a deep bond with Maria, who made him promise to use his powers for good and protect the world from danger.

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But tragedy soon struck. The military organization G.U.N. deemed Shadow a threat and placed him in suspended animation, but they accidentally killed Maria as she tried to protect her friend. As such, when Eggman reawakens Shadow in the main game, he’s hellbent on revenge against humanity for Maria’s death and agrees to help him in his plans to conquer the world.

As we’ve seen from the trailers for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the film is looking to be incredibly faithful to this backstory, and promotional images released of Maria protecting Shadow look like an almost identical recreation from the games. Considering how loved Sonic Adventure 2 is by fans, even those who hate the Blue Blur’s jump to 3D, it’s exciting to see the creative team so slavishly adapt a storyline we’ve been waiting from the beginning to see on the big screen. While we’re still skeptical about the inclusion of elements from Shadow’s widely lambasted self-titled game, we’re still excited to see a darker Sonic chapter.

‘Sonic 3’ Needs to Appeal to Older Viewers

Going in a darker direction would also be beneficial for the Sonic films from a quality standpoint. While both of the previous movies have been surprisingly enjoyable overall, they did tend to skew a bit too kid-oriented with their humor. Of course, Sonic the Hedgehog, from the beginning, has been primarily targeted at children, so it’s not unexpected for the films to do the same thing. But they admittedly lacked the broad appeal of Pixar or the Spider-Verse films, which work for kids on one level and adults on another.

As such, Sonic 3’s promise to delve into one of the franchise’s darker storylines proves there may be a bit more for older viewers to latch onto this time around, even as Sonic himself stays as kid-friendly as ever. Thus far, early reactions from fans have been vindicating these hopes, as most of them have teased that it’s the most mature film in the trilogy and that Shadow’s character arc gets surprisingly emotional. Obviously, we won’t detail what the climax of Sonic Adventure 2 entails here, but all signs seem to point to a faithful rendition of that game’s poignant conclusion.

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Going darker also bodes well for one of the undeniable strengths of the films so far: the more faithful they get to the games, the better they turn out. The first Sonic movie certainly had its moments, but for the most part, it was a fairly standard buddy movie. The title character spent most of the runtime in a hit-and-miss comedic dynamic with James Marsden, while things were occasionally enlivened by Jim Carrey’s manic performance as Dr. Robotnik. The second installment, which incorporated fan-favorite characters like Tails and Knuckles (who later got his own spin-off miniseries), as well as recognizable franchise hallmarks like the Chaos Emeralds and Super Sonic, was a noticeable step up in quality.

Yet, as surprisingly enjoyable as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was, it was still held back a bit by the leftover human characters from the first installment. Most scenes that tried to incorporate Marsden and company into the story fell a bit flat, especially a particularly baffling 10-minute stretch that saw Sonic and Tails crashing the wedding of Marsden’s sister-in-law. Considering that the character had barely been included in any of the films prior, it ground the pace to a halt and actively distracted from the more compelling conflict between Robotnik and Knuckles. While the human characters are still returning in Sonic 3, we can hope that the creative team will pivot the focus to Sonic and the game-faithful elements even more.

Bring on Sonic vs. Shadow

Of course, the main attraction for fans of the movies and franchise purists alike is the fact that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is looking to be, by far, the darkest chapter yet. The promotional campaign has done a great job of hyping up Shadow being the Blue Blur’s biggest threat yet (and teasing great voice work from Keanu Reeves), and it only seems like a logical direction to go.

Fans of the games have been clamoring for a faithful Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation for years now, while the movies themselves would greatly benefit from broadening their appeal beyond mostly just kids. In any case, we can’t wait. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 hits theaters on December 20.