The first Sonic the Hedgehog movie was a massive hit and became the highest grossing movie based on a video game (domestically) despite the fact that it had its box office run cut a bit short by a global pandemic. The upcoming sequel is looking to be bigger in every possible way, and Ben Schwartz, the voice of Sonic, is hyping up fans by promising that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will be “epic.”
We know that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will be a “bigger” movie by virtue of the fact that two other major characters from the game franchise, Sonic sidekick Tails and Knuckles the echidna, who will be voiced by Idris Elba, will be appearing in the new movie. ComicBook.com tried to get some more info on what’s in store for fans of Sonic from Ben Schwartz, and while he revealed no specifics, he played up just how big the new film will be, saying…
This is what I'll say, we've got Colleen O'Shaughnessey, who was from the video game and played Tails, she plays Tails, Idris Elba's Knuckles, they're both awesome in it and they look awesome. Jim Carrey is incredible in it. Incredible guest stars. Natasha Rothwell, who's a powerhouse of a comedian, Adam Pally, who worked with [The Afterparty co-star] Sam [Richardson] and who's worked with me before, is in it and incredibly funny in it.. And I can't tell you anything, but I will say, I've watched it many times and we've done a billion records, it is huge. It is epic. In terms of size, compared to the first one, this is a movie, this is a film, this is a movie-film.
Ben Schwartz’s comments are very similar to those we got from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 director Jeff Fowler, in that it’s being strongly hinted that, while the first trailer for the film has revealed quite a bit, there’s a lot more that has yet to be seen. It seems likely that more characters from the video game series could appear, but who they might be is anybody’s guess.
We’ve only had the smallest taste of Idris Elba’s Knuckles in the trailer for the movie, but the announcement that Elba was voicing Knuckles was met with a very positive reaction.
While Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is looking to be a lot bigger in scale than the first movie, the big question will likely be whether the box office will scale up to match. The first movie was a massive domestic hit and a moderate international success. But even massive blockbuster movies have had a difficult time in the pandemic era. Spider-Man: No Way Home has shown us that the audience can show up, but far more movies have had to adjust box office expectations.
