Sonic 3 Adds Keanu Reeves As Shadow The Hedgehog

The forthcoming third entry in the Sonic live-action film series, Sonic 3, which is currently scheduled for a December 2024 release, unveiled the latest addition to its voice cast. After months of rumors and potential teases, actor Keanu Reeves was officially confirmed to join the cast as the anthropomorphic Shadow the Hedgehog.

The announcement was made in a report by The Hollywood Reporter on 15th April 2024, in which Paramount had a presentation at CinemaCon this April, revealing footage from the upcoming film. While an official synopsis has yet to be confirmed, Sonic 3 sees an "out of shape" Dr. Robotnik get back on his feet following the events of Sonic 2, which sees him create the antithesis of Sonic, Shadow the Hedgehog.

Shadow the Hedgehog made his debut in the Sonic Adventure 2 game in 2001, created by Takashi Iizuka and Shiro Maekawa. According to an interview with Iizuka for VGC in June 2022, "Because of the success of the movies, we're finding that we're reaching into this wider audience of people who maybe never played the game before, or don't play them that much. It's this wider group of fans who we need to start now making content for."

The first Sonic film, which sparked some controversy over Sonic's CGI appearance, earned  $319 million at the box office globally in 2020 before its sequel surpassed it, amassing $404 million worldwide. Reeves will join the voice actor cast of Ben Schwartz (Sonic the Hedgehog), Colleen O'Shaughnessey (Miles "Tails" Prower), and Idris Elba (Knuckles the Echidna), who are reprising their roles from previous installments alongside James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Lee Majdoub, and Jim Carrey, who returns as Dr. Robotnik with director Jeff Fowler back at the helm.

Ahead of Sonic 3's release in theatres this year, a spin-off series, Knuckles, will premiere on Paramount+ on 26th April 2024, with Elba returning to voice the all-powerful echidna warrior. Sonic 3 is scheduled to be released in theatres in the US on 20th December 2024, with a global release in the following days.