Long-running franchises face a constant battle between their aging fanbase and their target audience. Though many adults have always enjoyed things like Sonic the Hedgehog, kids have always been the intended market. This often causes clashes as older fans want their favorite franchise to grow up with them. That usually means they'd like to see the things they loved as kids injected with needless "mature" material. Sonic the Hedgehog has Shadow for that, but the upcoming film should have fun with the concept.
The Sonic fanbase is extremely unique. While a lot of devotees want to see their favorite characters treated with reverence, fans of the Blue Blur have bizarre requirements for Sonic's entourage. One unique feature is that they rarely want to see icons of the Sonic universe behaving badly. Characters like Knuckles and Shadow entered the franchise as rivals, and since they turned over new leaves, fans hate seeing them regress.
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Shadow will be the main draw in Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Director | Jeff Fowler |
|---|---|
Stars | Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Keanu Reeves, Jim Carrey |
Based On | Sonic Adventure 2 |
Release Date | December 20, 2024 |
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ended with a massive end-credits teaser depicting Shadow the Hedgehog resting in his pod. That film heavily promoted itself with footage of Idris Elba's stellar surprise performance as Knuckles. Sonic 3 will do the same, somehow wrangling Keanu Reeves to play Shadow in another flawless casting call. Shadow ignited the fanbase with a massive wave of excitement. Later announcements fanned the flames by promising significant inspiration from Sonic Adventure 2, the game that introduced the world to the Ultimate Life Form. While Sonic Adventure 2 gave Shadow his debut, the character has evolved substantially in the years since. Different games and TV shows have offered radically unique takes on the character, many of which have become fan favorites. The existing material left the filmmakers with two solid options.
The Sonic movies have two ways to handle Shadow
Shadow the Hedgehog first appears as a competent, vengeful, and hateful supervillain. He embraces a more heroic worldview, sacrificing himself to save the world, but his initial presence is inarguably evil. Shadow lost his only loved one, prompting him to take his anger out on humanity. His motivation and methods are familiar to most video game villains. After his change of heart, Shadow's main defining trait becomes moral ambivalence. Shadow the Hedgehog allows players to choose good, evil, or neutral paths to find different endings. These include saving the world from aliens and assassinating the president. A world in which both of those actions feel understandable from the perspective of the same character is hard to achieve. He's been more complex in recent adaptations. Sonic Prime portrayed him as a calmer, more experienced hero, looking down upon Sonic's impulsive recklessness. The shift from vengeance-driven antagonist to serious-minded hero leaves out one element, however.
Shadow has always been extremely silly. His goofy dialogue exchanges with Sonic in the first game sound like professional voice actors reading out the transcript of two eleven-year-olds playing pretend. Shadow the Hedgehog gave him realistic guns, a motorcycle, and the ability to swear to draw in angsty teens, but it only made the character more appealing as a joke. He's a talking hedgehog gunning down real human soldiers, often while within earshot of Charmy the Bee. Sonic Boom, the funniest cartoon in the franchise, portrayed Shadow as the universe's only serious threat. It's still hilarious in its take on Shadow, punctuating his every line with a music sting as if he's in a musical no one else can hear. The Sonic Team Racing: Overdrive animated series depicted him like a schoolyard bully with charming results. Intentional or otherwise, Shadow has always been hilarious, and that's the perfect direction for Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 should lean into Shadow's edgy personality
The Sonic movies are silly, kid-friendly comedies first and action movies second. They contain countless gags fit for five-year-olds, dance sequences, and goofy subplots to keep the young viewers engaged. They were never going to let Shadow carry a gun and shoot dozens of human soldiers at the behest of a Satan-adjacent alien. They should, however, play him like the villainous version of the character portrayed in that game. Drive Shadow's edgy appeal beyond the realm of expectations. Depict him as a hilariously over-the-top edgelord, not unlike Across the Spider-Verse did with Ben Reilly. Let him brood, brag, and declare himself the coolest. Let Sonic poke fun at his comically self-serious demeanor. Introduce every scene with a booming orchestral score ripped from The Batman or a chugging guitar riff from Sonic Adventure 2. Every pre-teen boy who sees this movie should unironically love Shadow, then go back and laugh at themselves when they're an adult.
Shadow the Hedgehog is destined to be a fan favorite, no matter how the filmmakers choose to depict him. However, the best fit for the tone of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a comedic take on his beloved edgelord persona. Whether they make him a joke or not, fans will make fun of his demeanor. The best way to bring the Ultimate Life Form to the big screen is with a chorus of laughter every time he proclaims, "I'm the coolest."
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