Image: Paramount Pictures
Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s latest trailer has an unexpected callback to an old Shadow the Hedgehog game.
Paramount Pictures has unleashed a new trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the upcoming live-action threequel that brings Keanu Reeves into the fray as Shadow the Hedgehog. The new trailer has gotten every diehard Sonic fan on the Internet going wild, thanks to a few edgy nods to the Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) videogame. Plus, a surprise reference to Sonic Adventure 2’s Chao Garden!
Watch the trailer below:
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 trailer gives Shadow a gun, and a cafe some Chaos
This new Sonic the Hedgehog 3 trailer has it all: a Chao Garden reference, two Jim Carreys, as well as an armed and dangerous Shadow the Hedgehog. Paramount Pictures’ latest trailer has teased more footage from the upcoming threequel, giving fans a better look at Keanu Reeves’ debut as the infamously edgy Shadow, who often acts as Sonic’s rival in the latter’s game franchise.
The trailer starts off with a reference to Sonic Adventure 2’s Chao Garden, a hub world that serves as the home of adorably small creatures called Chaos. In the movie, this is interpreted a little differently, with Sonic, Knuckles and Tails visiting a themed cafe called Chao Garden featuring food and videos inspired by the Chaos. Here, Tails is mistaken as Pikachu by a group of children, adding to an already packed scene full of gaming references.
After that cute opener, we see Dr. Ivo Robotnik AKA Eggman team up with his grandfather Gerald Robotnik, both of whom are played by a double duty-pulling Jim Carrey here. Interestingly, this goes against the story beats we've been fed by previous Sonic trailers, which saw Eggman team up with Sonic, rather than act against him.
Eventually, Sonic and friends wind up in a confrontation with Shadow the Hedgehog in Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo, Japan. Shadow seems to be wielding an actual gun, in a hilarious callback to his edgy gun-toting appearance in Shadow the Hedgehog (2005). You can see him carry arms in the cinematic below:
Keanu Reeves will play Shadow the Hedgehog in this sequel, reuniting him with fellow Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty castmember Idris Elba, who plays Knuckles the Echidna. Ben Schwartz and Colleen O'Shaughnessey return as Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles ‘Tails’ Prower, respectively.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 hits theaters on December 20, 2024.
