Like every actor worth their weight in Hollywood, Idris Elba has made a name for himself by signing on to some powerful franchises in recent years. From his roles in Marvel’s Thor movies and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, voicing the sea lion Fluke in Finding Dory, or being the big bad in both Star Trek Beyond as well as Hobbs and Shaw, and most recently playing Bloodsport in the wildly beloved The Suicide Squad, there is no end of roles for this powerhouse actor. Most recently, Elba announced his latest franchise film character will be in the follow-up to last year’s surprisingly successful Sonic the Hedgehog live-action movie as the fan-favorite Knuckles the Echidna. Taking to Twitter to announce his involvement, Elba simply posted a picture of the be-gloved spiked fist of the Sonic regular with the headline:
Knock, knock… #SonicMovie2 #Knuckles
Fans of the series took to the news with some serious adulation, many of whom are still riding the wave of excitement he brought to The Suicide Squad in the past week. A far cry from the jeers the first Sonic movie took from the internet cowboys expressing their dislike for the original character design of the titular blue hero, so much so that the studio scrambled to rework the look last minute, adding quite a fever for people to see the film. Having learned their lesson, I’m sure this time around they will be able to concentrate more on the storyline. But what can we expect from this new addition to the cast? Here are a few theories to tide over the rabid fans of the Sega mascot.
They will nail the look
With the uproar from the first film far behind them, I’m guessing the digital effects team is not playing games when it comes to Knuckles. Nor can they afford to. According to Looper, the redesign set the studio back a bit less than $5 million, a drop in the bucket by today’s studio budgets, but still, a major blackeye for the production overall, leaving fans to generate bad press before the film even hit theaters.
Chaos Emeralds will be a major story point
In the game series, Knuckles was the guardian of the Master Chaos Emerald, as stated on the Sonic Fandom Page, an object which appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a massive green emerald and a mystical relic of immeasurable power from the forgotten past. Created by the gods, The Master Emerald acts as a counter to the Chaos Emeralds. The one who controls The Master Emerald can nullify and control the Chaos Emeralds, making the Master Emerald a very valuable gem. Similar to The Infinity Stones from the MCU, the keeper of the different gems gain powers and abilities such as warping time and space, powering machines, and initiating super transformations. In one of the Sonic storylines, Knuckles is manipulated by Dr. Robotnik so he can get The Master Stone, and according to Screenrant, that synopsis has been confirmed.
Knuckles will go from enemy to ally
A through-line in the game series, Knuckles and Sonic eventually team up to stop the evil Dr. Robotnik, but not before Knuckles gets tricked into working with the mad scientist, as stated earlier. Any screenwriter worth their salt would use this as a plot device where the heel turns hero. And why not, it is a tested, tried-and-true character flip that even worked in the game series where Knuckles ends up joining up with Sonic and his friends.
We might get a third act Hyper Sonic vs Hyper Knuckles
Taking from the game, Sonic 2 might just have an epic battle between Sonic and Knuckles in their Hyper forms. When all of the Chaos Emeralds are found the user’s abilities are heightened, embuing them super strength and speed. I’m willing to guess this story beat will make for an eye-popping final fight between the two which will end with their team-up against Dr. Robotnik who will no doubt have some sort of super ability of his own or even a suped-up weapon or some sort. Honestly, the movie writes itself.
Where does that leave Sonic’s pal Tails?
Spoiler for anyone who hasn’t seen the first Sonic movie; in an end credit singer scene, his two-tailed fox buddy Tails pops in looking for Sonic, thus setting up future films. One of the more recognizable characters of the series, Tails acted as the sidekick to Sonic, following him around and learning how to be a hero. Little has been hinted at in terms of his involvement in the sequel, though he could, unfortunately, be taken by the villains prompting Sonic to stage a rescue. But let’s not count out the little guy just yet, given his backstory as a gifted mechanic according to the Sonic Fandom Page, Tails’ prowess with machines could prove useful against Robotnik who uses tech to take down his enemies.
Whatever the final plot turns out to be, if the film can pull off what it did the first time around, the addition of Idris Elba’s smooth vocal stylings will definitely help it surpass the original.
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