The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has added another impressive name to its cast, with Keanu Reeves set to join the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as Sonic’s adversary Shadow the Hedgehog.
Reeves joins a film that already includes Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, James Marsden as Sonic’s human pal Tom, Tika Sumpter as Tom’s wife Maddie, and Idris Elba as Knuckles the Echidna. The news about Reeves comes via The John Campea Show.
Shadow as introduced to the video game series in 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2. He also appeared in the post-credits scene in 2022’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which referred to a mysterious “Project Shadow” and showed the character in some kind of holding tank. Here is that scene:
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Typically in the Sonic video game franchise, Shadow opposes Sonic but also noble goals. He’s sort of like the Sonic version of Spider-Man’s longtime antagonist Venom. Like Venom, Shadow holds a character with a grudge against the franchise’s central figure, but he otherwise tries to commit good deeds, even if he’s not quite as noble or as idealistic as his superheroic double (and is often quite a bit more violent in achieving his goals). Shadow got his own spinoff game in 2005 with Shadow the Hedgehog for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube.
Shadow has also appeared in several other Sonic games, and some Sonic comics and cartoon series. He was supposedly created with the intention of being a more “cool” alternative to the franchise’s wholesome main character. And really, if you’re looking for a voice that says “cool,” who is cooler than Keanu Reeves? No one, that’s who.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is scheduled to open in theaters on December 20, 2024.
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