The Sonic the Hedgehog motion pictures have been exciting and nicely-received by the franchise’s passionate fanbase. However, the multimedia franchise, which lately transitioned to streaming tv with the Knuckles miniseries, seems noticeably hampered by a expanding obstacle. The central events of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Knuckles stay anchored on planet Earth, even even though Earth is not the household planet of Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails. The knowledge is dulled mainly because the writers refuse to discover much more vibrant worlds. The films tease glimpses of other planets, such as Sonic and Knuckles’ unnamed homeworld, and the Mushroom Planet, exactly where Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) was stranded for a when. Although it does not appear like the Sonic film franchise will leave Earth later this year with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, it really is time for the franchise to escape the secure confines of Earth and discover the vast universe at its disposal.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Release Date

December 20, 2024

Writers

Pat Casey , Josh Miller

The Characters in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Have the Means to Easily Travel to Alternate Worlds

One striking element of Sonic the Hedgehog is Sonic’s connection to Green Hills and how he views the town as his new household. Sonic was offended when he realized that Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) wanted to relocate to San Francisco, leaving his hometown in the middle of nowhere in Montana. While Sonic grew fond of the little town, it seemed such a far cry from preceding iterations of Sonic, who under no circumstances seemed like the form of particular person who would want to settle down and place down roots, specially in his wild, rebellious teens. But this is a various version of Sonic, who was orphaned at a young age and raised by Longclaw. The two are later separated soon after an attack by the elders of Knuckles’ Echidna tribe, leaving Sonic alone on Earth. However, with his rings, Sonic could travel anyplace on Earth or even go to other worlds.

The rings are nonetheless out there in the Sonic the Hedgehog film universe. The rogue G.U.N. agents, Willoughby (Ellie Taylor) and Mason (Scott Mescudi) have access to Sonic’s recovered rings in the Knuckles miniseries. They are employed as ammo in a fancy portal gun. Tails also utilizes rings to travel to other worlds and Earth in Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill comic tie-in. Since the potential for rapid and simple travel to other worlds across the universe currently exists inside the franchise, it should really not be complicated from a narrative standpoint.

The ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Franchise Is Held Back by Staying Earthbound

In all fairness, the Knuckles miniseries was probably particularly restricted from a budgetary standpoint. That suggests the series could not do substantially exploration beyond providing Knuckles and Wade Whipple (Adam Pally) a road trip across rural America, with the final act taking spot in Reno, Nevada. That mentioned, with the two theatrical characteristics and Knuckles mostly taking spot on Earth, it would be good if later entries shook items up with a new setting. The Sonic the Hedgehog video games are defined by striking, exotic, and distinctive areas.

The motion pictures do function scenes and settings that spend homage to the video games, but it feels like a copout that they all mainly have to remain on planet Earth when other alien worlds exist. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails mainly have to interact with every other or other human characters. And however, the human characters are the franchise’s weak hyperlink. Therefore, an simple resolution is to expand the scope of the film franchise by taking the primary characters to other worlds and planets.

If future Sonic the Hedgehog motion pictures take their adventures off-globe, the primary characters could encounter new, colorful characters. Tom and Maddie (Tika Sumpter) can join Sonic and his good friends to sustain the human element for narrative purposes. It would be good to have the shoe on the other foot, seeing the humans as the proverbial fish out of water, contrasting the preceding two motion pictures and Knuckles, which largely showcase the aliens finding out much more about human and Earth culture. Future films could function Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails returning to their respective household worlds.

Imagine if films could go to Little Planet, which would be a excellent way to introduce characters such as Amy Rose and Metal Sonic, who very first seem in the Sonic CD video game. The fanbase avidly anticipates Amy Rose’s arrival, and a new female character would offer a refreshing addition to the cast. If the primary characters embark on new adventures, rather than passively waiting for other folks to arrive, the knowledge will be much more thrilling. This would stimulate much more character improvement for the primary cast, and it would offer the ideal chance to introduce other anthropomorphic alien characters. The possible for new characters is vast, with fans anxiously awaiting the significant-screen debuts of Amy, Rouge the Bat, the Chaotix, and Big the Cat. There’s no cause to cease at Shadow the Hedgehog in Sonic 3. Arguably, Shadow may possibly only be the tip of the iceberg for introducing new characters to the film series.

Sonic Leaving Earth Offers Poignant Thematic Material

The Sonic the Hedgehog motion pictures depict Sonic producing a located family members with the Wachowskis, Tails, and Knuckles. Tom and Maddie now view the trio as their “kids,” and Sonic views the Wachowskis as his adopted parents. Considering Sonic starts the franchise as a young orphan separated from his owl guardian, it tends to make sense thematically that he would yearn for a household. Therefore, Sonic should really ultimately answer the get in touch with to leave Green Hills, Montana for a new adventure.

Much like the films present the metaphor for the located family members, future adventures that take Sonic off-globe could offer a metaphor about youngsters expanding up and leaving the nest, going off on their personal. The material suggests that Sonic has a higher destiny, and he will probably travel to other worlds to support other men and women and face other villains and threats. If Sonic does aspect methods with his adopted family members, that would offer future film installments with some bittersweet, poignant material, as nicely as an chance for tremendous character improvement for Sonic, who accepts his calling as a hero to liberate or guard his animal brethren across the universe.

‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ Is Likely Staying on Earth

Although the Sonic the Hedgehog film series should really take into consideration moving items off-globe sooner rather than later, it does not look like that is taking place anytime quickly. It appears like the subsequent significant-screen installment of the franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, is maintaining items Earthbound. The mid-credits scene for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 indicates that coordinates have been found on an old government black internet site dating back more than 50 years, teasing the look of Shadow the Hedgehog. However, the stinger scene did not indicate something about the black internet site getting off-planet or off-globe.

An early teaser trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was lately shown at CinemaCon in Las Vegas earlier in April. Nothing from the footage indicated that Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Shadow, and Dr. Robotnik would be taking their fight away from planet Earth. For now, it seems Sonic and his good friends are stuck on Earth and Green Hills. It remains to be noticed if future sequels or other spinoffs will take into consideration shifting the characters away from planet Earth. Keeping events perpetually on Earth appears rather mundane for a franchise such as Sonic the Hedgehog, specially considering that the film series has currently revealed the existence of other planets. It’s time the franchise explores its universe beyond the confines of Earth and Green Hills.

The current Knuckles spinoff is streaming now on Paramount+, along with Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be sprinting into theaters on December 20.

WATCH ON PARAMOUNT+