Tika Sumpter Plays Word Association Game With A ‘Sonic 3’ Twist

Source: Derek White/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

We love us some Tika Sumpter who indulged in our shenanigans by telling us the first words that came to mind about Idris Elba, Jim Carrey, and more ahead of the release of buzzy threequel Sonic The Hedgehog 3.

The ageless actress who plays Sonic’s mom ‘Maddie Wachowski’ dropped all kinds of gems about her role in the film, movie husband James Marsden, and more in our hijinksy game of Word Association that you can enjoy in the video below:

In the latest installment of the hit franchise, formidable new villain Shadow the Hedgehog (played by the impossibly cool Keanu Reeves) wastes no time beating the rings out of our favorite hedgehog, Knuckles, and Tails–oh my!

Completely outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and saving the planet. Whew, good luck!

“We just shared all of our plans, our artworks and a lot of storyboards,” said director Jeff Fowler about luring Keanu to the franchise in an interview with THR. “We had already planned a lot of the film, and when it came time to make the pitch, having some really great-looking visuals is always a good place to start.

So he really saw the potential in the character. Shadow is cool. He rides a motorcycle [like Reeves does]. He’s got all these great powers But more importantly, he actually has some real depth. He’s got this really interesting backstory that fans love, and there’s some real dimension and complexity to the character that made Keanu such a great fit.”

Check out the trailer below:

Directed by Jeff Fowler, the family-friendly blockbuster boasts an all-star ensemble cast including James Marsden, Idris Elba, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, and, of course, Jim Carrey who made headlines with the soft-launch of his retirement from acting during the Sonic 2 press run.

“I never bought that for a second,” said Fowler about Jim Carrey’s potential retirement. “Jim has too much fun playing this character. If we dangled a really great new idea for him to play with and explore as Robotnik, then I felt that he would be interested in coming back. He’s such an incredible talent, and all it really takes is the opportunity to explore new territory, such as giving Robotnik a grandfather and telling a family story from the Robotnik side of things.

The first two films have very much focused on giving Sonic family and friends, and Jim certainly did all kinds of interesting things with the character in both of those films. But Sonic 3 was a new opportunity to show what Ivo’s life would be like if suddenly he had a family.”

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is now going fast, really fast in theaters everywhere!