The ending of 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog movie confirmed to audiences that one fan favourite character would be in the sequel: Tails. And now, there’s confirmation that another hugely popular character from the Sonic franchise is joining his pal on the big screen — with a suave, superstar voice to boot.
Idris Elba took to social media Tuesday to reveal that he’ll be voicing the Echidna Knuckles in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2, currently set for release on April 8, 2022. Ben Schwartz will once again voice Sonic alongside live action actors James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik. The rumoured plot sees Robotnik return from an alien planet along with Knuckles to find a powerful emerald, which is when Sonic and Tails team up to stop him. In the video games, Knuckles was first introduced as an antagonist too, before changing sides. We’d imagine that’ll happen here as well.
Jeff Fowler once again directs the sequel and, after the first film’s surprising box office success, chances are the look of these characters will be as true to the game world as possible. He wouldn’t want another situation like last time where after the first look at Sonic was revealed, online reaction was so negative, millions of dollars were spent to chance the main character’s look. As expected, even the quick tease that Elba dropped online has Knuckles trademark hands looking just as they should.
Knock, knock….#SonicMovie2 #Knuckles pic.twitter.com/N1PW5XaCEd
— Idris Elba (@idriselba) August 10, 2021
There was also this title announcement, which once again hammered home the point that Tails will be a big part of the movie.
Elba is having a fairly solid week. In addition to this brand new franchise going under his belt, he’s getting great reviews for his work at Bloodsport in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, another franchise he could very well end up communing in the future. But you have to think, if Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a hit, we’ll probably get Sonic 3, 4, 5, who knows. And you know Knuckles will be along for the ride.