With just a few weeks left until its premiere, Paramount has released a new trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – and its brief runtime has given fans their first action-packed look at Shadow’s, John Wick-esque cinematic debut.
For those viewers who may be more familiar with the blue blur and pals through their movies than games, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be taking heavy inspiration from SEGA’S Sonic Adventure 2.
Originally released for the Dreamcast before eventually making its way to the GameCube, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and PC platforms, the game centers on Sonic’s attempt to clear his name after the governments of the world blame him for the world-threatening crimes of his heretofore unrevealed clone, Shadow.
Genetically engineered to be the ‘Ultimate Lifeform’ as part of an experiment to cure Professor Gerald Robotnik’s granddaughter Maria of her unspecified terminal illness, Shadow eventually comes to embrace his humanity after forming an unlikely bond with the young girl.
However, after Shadow is deemed a threat by the military organization G.U.N. (Guardian Units of Nations), Maria is killed during a raid on Gerald’s lab. In turn, Shadow swears revenge against the world – a sentiment he is ultimately able to move past after teaming up with Sonic and his friends.
But despite this change in heart, Shadow’s reputation as an ‘anti-hero’ remained popular among fans, and so SEGA turned him into a full-fledged protagonist in 2005.
Released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube, Shadow the Hedgehog further explored the titular hedgehog’s ‘darker edge’, in doing so marrying various moral choices and mature themes with the franchise’s fast-paced platforming and ring collection gameplay.
Oh, and who could forget how the game introduced Shadow’s ability to wield guns, in doing so upping his fan-favorite ‘edge’ factor by a monumental degree.
Unfortunately, these changes divided fans and critics, and as a result of their implementation – as well as the game’s overall low quality – Shadow’s standalone game was critically-panned, ending his solo run before it could truly pick up speed.
But nevertheless, Shadow has since become one of the most popular characters in the Sonic universe, having made an appearance in almost every piece of franchise media, from comic books, to video games, to animated series, produced since his introduction.
Now, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will finally bring Shadow to the world of live-action.
A new medium for the beloved hedgehog, the film presents the perfect opportunity for SEGA to both dive deeper into his backstory and repair the damage done to his reputation by his solo game.
And in the film’s latest and final trailer, it appears that SEGA and Universal will be doing just that.
Introducing viewers to Shadow’s dark origins, his conflicted connection to Geral Robotnik, and bond with Maria, the trailer provides just enough of a tease regarding the anti-hero’s emotional backstory to hook and reel in viewers – and if that’s not enough to do so, the trailer’s final shot of Sonic and Shadow coming to blows in a fiery location likely will be.
To this end, the choice to cast Keanu Reeves as his voice actor seems like an intentionally calculated move from director Jeff Fowler.
Perhaps currently best known for portraying the titular protagonist of the John Wick series, whose anti-hero attitude also took the world by storm, Reeves’ voice brings a familiar formula to Shadow’s personality (as also helped along by the fact that his ‘Shadow voice’ sounds so much like his regular voice).
Given Wick’s penchant for gunplay and the trailer’s confirmation that Shadow will definitely wield a gun at some point in the film, it seems Fowler knew exactly what cultural touch points he was hitting on when he was bringing the black hedgehog to life.
All in all, it looks like long-time fans will actually get a faithful rendition of Shadow – along with his motorbike, famous rocket shoes, and gun play skills – when Sonic the Hedgehog 3 spin dashes into theaters on December 20th.
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