Sonic the Hedgehog - Where do we go from here?

 

Sonic the Hedgehog had a rough transition to Live Action. 

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    I have been a Sonic fan for the majority of my life, and I have loved him in many, many forms. From the very beginning, the character has been interpreted and re-interpreted across basically every form of entertainment media. In the first few years of the original video game's release, he appeared in two concurrently airing animated children's shows, one which portrayed him as a Looney Tunes styled hooligan performing slapstick, and the other in a dark and gritty anti-authoritarian guerilla resistance, with body horror and death frequently featured. So it was no surprise to me to learn that the first Live-Action adaptation was going to be a buddy cop movie with a CG animal sidekick. A disappointment, sure, but not a surprise.

 

SONIC 1: The Good, The Bad, and the Hedgehog

    I'm not going to recap the development history of this film. It's practically internet folklore by now- the release of the initial trailer and Sonic's design received SUCH backlash, that not only did Paramount delay the movie by half a year, they brought on Tyson Hesse to rework it into something that would hopefully make them any money. The result was... visibly a movie built on the bones of a much worse one.

   
    Some decisions from the original film were irreversible; the human actors, the Owl-mom that came out of nowhere, the garbling of existing Sonic lore to include Echidnas alive and well during a relatively recent window of time, and ESPECIALLY the buddy-cop road-trip element that is honestly the weakest parts of the film. I'm sorry to all of the "Sonic has human parents" fans out there, but nothing in that movie made me like James Marsden. I've seen Hop. This was basically just Hop.

 

    Despite these flaws, the resulting film was actually Not Bad. It was significantly less of a SONIC movie than it was an origin story for Dr. Eggman; the shift from eccentric but genuinely genius government scientist into the megalomaniac bent on world domination we expect of the character actually makes a lot of sense in this continuity. It's not my FAVORITE take on the character, and the subsequent sequels had to take that direction and work hard to validate it, but it's a very good starting point, for Eggman.  

 

    For Sonic and the Movie franchise as a whole, the need to retain the irreplaceable elements of the original plans for the movie has had visible effects on everything that comes after it. For this rant, the most important is the focus on significantly smaller scale locales based in a real world environment. The majority of the movie takes place in rural Americana, with pit stops in 1 major US city and the Great Wall of China for some reason. This focus on real world locations instead of leaning into the fantastical elements expected of Sonic media has definitely become a feature instead of a bug, and the grounded setting and slew of non-furry characters in the cast means these films feature more character stories instead of pure anime spectacle.

SONIC 2: Finally, some Good Fucking Food

    For my money, this is where the franchise gets interesting. Sadly, my money is Zero dollars because it's the one piece of Sonic Movie Media I haven't actually seen. I've heard plenty about it, such as the HEAVY implications of a past Owl vs Echidna war, everything involving the Chaos emeralds, and most importantly for this blog-post- a less than stellar B-plot with a destination wedding in Hawaii taking up more screen-time than most people wanted. This is juicy lore, interesting concepts the movie doesn't have full time to explore, DELICIOUS hooks on which to hang future adventures in this franchise... and also the destination wedding in Hawaii. 

     

    The flawed premise of the original movie immediately comes to bite the franchise in the ass, as the human characters who aren't Stone or Robotnik need something to do while Sonic and Tails are dealing with Knuckles, and even the final fight at the apex of the movie can't figure out how to properly include them in the action beyond acting as squishy sideline cheerleaders. So Hawaii it is. And yet... When looking at the duology together, the lower stakes Human-centric events feels more in line with what the original movie wanted to go for. Despite the more exciting SONIC stuff in Movie 2, it's at odds with what the previous movie actually WAS. 

 

    This imbalance comes to a head in, of all places-

KNUCKLES MINI-SERIES: He's Jewish Now

    I've seen most of this show, though not through the official channels (Paramount is run by Zionists, y'all.) And while most of it's flaws can be attributed to the reality that neither CG or Idris Elba come cheap, and both are required for Knuckles to be on screen, I feel most of it's issues come from the expectation fans had going into it. Because the entire series was primarily an attempt to focus on the lower stakes, human-centric writing that was core to Movie 1, and present but not integrated as well in Movie 2. Audiences wanted more Sonic Action, and less sit-com human slice of life. This is a problem for the franchise as something an audience needs to enjoy to continue supporting, but makes sense for the trajectory of the series.

    It also, similar to Movie 1, features a lot of Americana, and specifically the main goal of the series- A bowling tournament in Reno, Nevada. This is the third time I've directly made reference to the big, real world set-pieces, so I'm done being coy- Sonic's Movie Franchise is HEAVILY focused on taking the characters to real places, On Earth, and doing fantastical furry things there. In fact, outside of Robotnik's temporary banishment to the Mushroom Planet, and the Green Hill Zone segment in the first movie, there's been no action that removes the Hedgehog and his friends from Earth.

     Interesting. 

    There IS, of course, still Sonic Action to be had. There's an entire dream sequence that shares more lore of Knuckles' people, and that finale features Knuckles unlocking the Flames of Disaster... Which... aren't actually anything to do with Knuckles in the original game continuity...

    INTERESTING. 

SONIC 3: That Damned Fourth Chaos Emerald

    Lets get the key point out of the way. In Japan, the movie is literally subtitled "Tokyo Mission." We've seen in the various teasers that they'll be stopping in London. Despite this movie, more than anything before it, focusing on the high stakes, anime action Sonic fans expect from Sonic Media, the real world and human-centric stakes are still going to be front and center. This, more than any other story the movie franchise has tried to adapt thus far, is going to be an interesting stretch. Sonic Adventure 2 was WILD, y'all. The government has a black ops orbital space station. Hell, they have a tropical island PRISON that completely explodes at one point (There goes Hawaii.) In order to chase Eggman INTO space, the heroes go to Not-Egypt and find a NASA-esque rocket INSIDE A PYRAMID. There is a lot of Sonic Action to be had in this story. Too much Sonic Action to shove into a Movie of realistic length. WAY too much Sonic Action to shove into a Movie in this franchise, which, I repeat, has always had a significant desire to focus on Human-centric, grounded character stories.

    So what ARE they adapting outside of the action set pieces? Judging by the trailers we've seen thus far? Shadow the Hedgehog.

SONIC 3 INTERMISSION: WHO IS SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG?

    This is, unironically, the million dollar question. Before the game franchise underwent a less than ideal focus shift to chase industry trends around 2007, Shadow the Hedgehog had all of 5 Video Game appearances to build up his character. The first, Sonic Adventure 2, was intended to be his ONLY appearance, and ended with a quickly retcon'd Death Scene. After that, he comes back with AMNESIA, and needs to retread the ground already covered by the first game, and that's BEFORE he's told he's genetically part Alien. 

    But let's recap, for the kiddies at home. During the events of Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow is portrayed as a dark and twisted mirror image of Sonic the Hedgehog. Where Sonic is open and bright, Shadow is dark and brooding. Where Sonic is heroic and free, Shadow is selfish and calculating. The pair fight whenever they're in the same space and if you play through their encounters in chronological order, you realize that Shadow figuratively and literally places himself above Sonic, not even bothering to learn his name until the very end of the game. But where the marketing material plays up the comparisons, the story of the game is actually really uninterested in maintaining that 1 to 1 dynamic. 

    Shadow is possessed by his anger, unable to see anything outside of his desire for (honestly, reasonable but incorrectly aimed) revenge. The persona he presents as a dark and brooding and evil person is not all there is to him, and the longer the story goes on, the more the audience sees that slip. The entire time Shadow is working through that anger, Sonic is a constant annoyance, keeping up with him, preventing him from easily succeeding at his plot, and repeatedly trying to reach out and talk out whatever the issue is. By the end of the game, Shadow textually recognizes that for all his flouting of being the Ultimate Life form... Sonic actually might be stronger. Not because they can both go Super or anything, but because his worldview prevents him from being consumed by the anger that Shadow couldn't let go of. It's a story of how Shadow grows and changes into a better version of himself by mere proximity to Sonic. 

    And then he fucking dies.

    Sonic Heroes (2003) returns Shadow to the cast, as he was simply too popular to never bring back, but this time with a twist! Eggman has created an army of Androids that look just like Shadow! And the Shadow we follow during the game might be one of them! He doesn't have any memories to say otherwise, so his development has been reset and this Android mystery takes the forefront whoo!!!! (The end of the next mainline game, Shadow The Hedgehog (2005) reveals that no, that was all bullshit it was the original the whole time lmao. Thanks Sega.)

     Shadow the Hedgehog (2006), uses it's bizarre game play format to present both the most heroic and most villainous potential series of events to reach a less than satisfying end thesis: Shadow the Hedgehog contains all of those possibilities. He is equally capable of great evil as he is great heroism and everything in between. Similar to Sonic's desire for freedom guiding his actions, Shadow's desires are what motivates him. There is no destiny or assigned role for him; to assume so would be to ignore an entire chunk of his being. This is, on paper, a really good direction for the character. It's just a shame it took a two (three if you count Sonic Battle) games to reach this point, which isn't even as neat or complete an arc as was already done in Sonic Adventure 2.

    Shadow's story doesn't progress to a comparable point as the end of SA2 until Sonic The Hedgehog (2006). His appearances leading up to this point rehash the same concepts, but spread thinner, and conveyed less directly, across multiple games and multiple years. Each time he appears, it is with the lingering question, both in and out of universe, "Who is Shadow the Hedgehog?".

    I cannot in good faith pretend to believe that Paramount will be able to cover this in a single movie. I do, however, FIRMLY believe that the creative team working on these films know that.

END SONIC 3 INTERMISSION

    Sonic the Hedgehog Movie 3 is going to focus on early Shadow- the brooding, angry, borderline evil Shadow we saw throughout the marketing material and goofed upon for much of the 2000's. He will be driven by a desire for revenge, pushed by an alive and vengeful Dr. Gerald Robotnik into committing acts of violence against the world for GUN's crimes. By the end of the movie, by sheer proximity to Sonic the Hedgehog, he will question and rebel against his creator's plans, because while Shadow is fully capable of such evil, he is equally capable of great heroism, and denying the kind heart Maria loved would mean becoming something else entirely. The movie will end on this incongruity, making the cast, the audience, and maybe even Shadow himself wonder who he truly is. But that's okay, really. Because we already have the perfect story to give an answer. One that allows for both the Sonic Action fans desire, and the grounded story telling set on the planet earth featuring a real-world set piece that is the backbone of this media sub-franchise. You've read my fucking manifesto this far so don't dip out on me now, when I say something truly and utterly bizarre. Are you ready?

    The inevitable Shadow the Hedgehog Miniseries is going to adapt Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

SHADOW MINISERIES: WITNESS THE POWER OF THE ULTIMATE LIFE FORM

     Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) featured an entire campaign focusing on Shadow, and primarily, the demon whispering in his ear, Mephiles. Mephiles takes on Shadow's form, emulating the Hedgehog like a dark and twisted shadow. He shows him visions of a future wherein he is betrayed, suffering an unfair fate at the hands of his enemies, overtaken by his rival Sonic, all in an effort to enrage Shadow and push him to take actions that would benefit Mephiles' master plan. But Mephiles has it completely wrong- his manipulations assumes that Shadow is the same angry, misguided person he was at the start of SA2, that he hasn't grown or changed or accepted all of his incongruous facets of his personality. Shadow plays along just enough to grasp the full gambit, at which point he simply and concisely calls Mephiles out on his bullshit. As a capstone to the development shown through Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Shadow the Hedgehog, he stands in front of an army of his own shadows, and declares, "Even if the world chooses to become my enemy. I'll fight like I always have."

    If Sonic 3 displays Shadow's capability for Villainy, with his kind heart revealed for the final act, Soleanna will be the perfect scenario to turn that on it's head. Just not with the time travel, Silver, Blaze, or even Sonic. A solo adventure with a devil on his shoulder tempting him to give back into the anger he was manipulated with the movie previous, and a human girl stuck with a terrible destiny that prevents her from shedding tears. A parallel to the sister he lost and mourned and the authority figure who used that bond to commit violence against the planet she loved.  The perfect scenario for him to compare what he was created as with what he knows he can be, and choose to be all and none of those things; to reject the expectations of others and follow his own heart wherever it takes him. Just like Sonic. Just like Maria would have wanted.

    The introduction of the Flames of Disaster, tied to Knuckles and the Echidnas, raise a lot of eyebrows. Hailing from Sonic The Hedgehog 2006, this concept had nothing to do with either, and was a change that didn't make a lot of sense at the time. Now though, with what I've posited? It's simply a shorthand to tie whatever happens during this Miniseries back into the greater world lore. It won't matter if the series spends all of it's time on the character stories if it naturally furthers the previous mini-series' plot thread just by having Shadow be in the right place for that exposition to be dumped. 

Final Thoughts: What the hell did I just read?

    I don't know. What the hell did I just write? Hang on, lemme give it a skim.

    ---

    I think I might be mentally ill. 

    If any of this turns out to be correct, I will simply have to do another one of these, with significantly less recapping and more predictions for the franchise. Off the top of my head, I do believe that Movie 4 will be the Metal Sonic/Little Planet movie, being the first to be an Interplanetary adventure now that they've gone to Space to fight the Ark in Movie 3, and Shadow the Miniseries used the last big real-world set piece they could have without adapting Sonic Adventure 1. Beyond that, who knows if the series will even still be running? It doesn't show signs of slowing down, but as with any Sonic media, you can never tell what changes they'll make next.

Until next Time,

    Farmer Gadda