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Sonic The Hedgehog 3’s Story Update Reveals New Setting For The Sequel

By Charles | 24 Nov 2024

With the sequel raising the stakes for the titular hero, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will also explore a wild new setting. The third installment in the movie franchise based on the SEGA games will see Sonic, Tails and Knuckles reluctantly partnering up with Robotnik in order to stop Shadow the Hedgehog amid his quest for destruction to get justice for his dark past. Ben Schwartz and Jim Carrey return to lead the ensemble Sonic the Hedgehog 3 cast alongside fellow franchise vets James Marsden, Idris Elba, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Tika Sumpter and the introduction of Keanu Reeves as Shadow, among others.

Ahead of the movie's next trailer, releasing on November 25, The Hollywood Handle received a special care package from Paramount Pictures to commemorate the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 trailer. The box, which includes a SEGA Genesis cartridge with the game that features the trailer date, includes an official plot description for the threequel revealing the movie will go to space. Check out the official description and promotional box below:

With their abilities outmatched in every way, they seek out an alliance to fight Shadow and protect the planet. From Tokyo to London to the far reaches of space, it's an incredible adventure that takes it all to the next level.

While the plot description doesn't explicitly state whether the "space" in question is another planet or just space in general, the latter would mark the first time the Sonic the Hedgehog movie franchise has explored such. The first movie indicated that the titular hero was from another planet and its ending saw Carrey's Robotnik banished to a planet full of mushrooms, while the second movie saw Knuckles travel to said planet and bring Robotnik back to Earth. Evil still, both movies utilized the rings to teleport between the planets, doing away with spaceships.

Though it's unclear how the movie will be going into space, Sonic the Hedgehog 3's story is clearly primarily pulling from the Adventure games, particularly the second one. The 2001 sequel was the introduction of Shadow to the game franchise, but also concluded with Shadow and Sonic working together to stop Robotnik from sending the abandoned space colony, the ARK, on a crash course to Earth. Considering how heavily involved Robotnik's grandfather, the creator of Shadow, will also be in the film, it certainly seems likely Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is taking many of its story keys from Adventure 2.

That being said, considering director Jeff Fowler has also said that the movie will pull from the 2005 Shadow the Hedgehog, on which he contributed to the CGI movie production, it's also possible Sonic the Hedgehog 3's space setting will tie into that game's events. Much of its story carried on elements from Sonic Adventure 2, including Shadow's origins on the ARK, but also introduced new alien threats and an Earth-destroying threat. With the second Sonic movie having introduced a bigger threat to bring Knuckles to the blue hedgehog's side, it seems possible the same could be done for Shadow.

If the movie does stay true to the second Adventure game, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 going to space could showcase the full potential of the Chaos Emeralds by featuring both Shadow and Sonic utilizing the power of the Master Emerald to take down a major threat. A recent poster teased that "chaos is coming", potentially hinting at the arrival of the iconic villain Chaos from the first Adventure game, and while he wasn't the final boss in Adventure 2, I'd totally be pleased with the combining of both games' endings for the movie's finale.