Keanu Reeves will be voicing Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which is currently in development.
The trades confirm the news which also follows it confirmed that Jim Carrey is returning as Dr. Robotnik from the previous two movies.
The first footage also debuted recently at CinemaCon featuring Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles fighting against Shadow, but Shadow didn’t speak in the clip.
Keanu Reeves also joins Ben Schwartz who returns to voice the titular character, with James Marsden as Tom Wachowski, Tika Sumpter as Maddie Wachowski, Idris Elba as Knuckles, Lee Majdoub as Agent Stone, Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails, and Tom Butler as Commander Walters.
New to the cast includes Krysten Ritter, Alyla Browne, James Wolk, Sofia Pernas, Cristo Fernández, and Jorma Taccone.
There is speculation that Alyla Browne is playing Maria Robotnik which ties into Shadow the Hedgehog and Project Shadow from the video games.
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 will be released on December 20, 2024 directed by Jeff Fowler.
Who is Shadow the Hedgehog?
In the games, Shadow is an immortal, anthropomorphic black hedgehog created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, the grandfather of Doctor Eggman, aka Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey).
Shadow the Hedgehog is not evil, as the character is an anti-hero, “the anti-Sonic,” who will do whatever it takes, so this leads to confrontations with Sonic, where Shadow the Hedgehog is Sonic’s biggest rival. While Sonic is fun and jokey, Shadow the Hedgehog is much more serious.
With the use of Shadow, it’s been suggested Sonic 3 could have a different tone than the first two movies and wouldn’t have that similar humor to what they did with Knuckles.
“I think what fans respond to about him is that he’s a bit more no-nonsense, and definitely very in contrast to the other characters,” said Fowler following the release of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and the post-credit scene.
Writer Josh Miller also said back in May of last year, “Shadow is clearly going to be in the franchise moving forward. I don’t think it’s revealing anything to say we’d love to incorporate elements from Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog, his solo spinoff game.”
