Celebrating the 2024 film schedule because it leaves view, it’s onerous to not point out the enjoyable and pleasure Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has been spreading in theaters. With the most recent entry in Paramount and Sega’s variations of the gaming icon, the stakes couldn’t have been greater. That a lot was very true as soon as Keanu Reeves’ Sonic 3 casting as Shadow the Hedgehog grew to become public data.
In fact, I’d observed a few particular references to Reeves’ two most landmark franchises. Once I had the prospect to sit down down with Sonic the Hedgehog franchise writers Josh Miller and Pat Casey, I requested them in the event that they’d written any particular callbacks. Understanding that the motion star was enjoying the final word lifeform, Miller & Casey shared that they really had one reference they wished to incorporate. Talking with CinemaBlend, Casey shared this well-known Keanu Reeves line that just about made the lower:
It did not make the film, however we have been positively tempted to [ask], ‘Is there a approach we will get Shadow to say like ‘Weapons, numerous weapons.’ He’s already mentioned that in two different franchises, similar to actually carry it ahead.
Director Jeff Fowler did have a particular Keanu function in thoughts whereas making Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Which, to be truthful, might be why the sequence the place Shadow’s strolling within the rain by way of a neon-washed Japan appears like a scene from John Wick: Chapter 2.
However the one reference I’m undecided many individuals picked up on was Shadow’s would-be ending transfer with Sonic (Ben Schwartz), later in that very same setting. If you happen to’re a fan of The Matrix trilogy’s story, you might have felt the pang of deja vu I sensed when Shadow the Hedgehog rocketed in the direction of the bottom, planting the Blue Blur within the asphalt. That was a web page proper out of the ebook of Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) in the course of the climactic throwdown in 2003’s The Matrix Revolutions.
As for each of those references, it appears like they have been added in afterward within the course of. Persevering with to put out the manufacturing course of for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, as Josh Miller and Pat Casey tipped their hats to 1 division specifically:
Josh Miller: “However to reply your query [about] throwing in nods, I do not really feel prefer it was ever mentioned. I feel it simply form of began taking place organically, after which particularly as soon as he agreed to do it.”
Pat Casey: “I imply so far as him hitting sure poses, poses from different Keanu franchises, that is these board artists are at all times slipping these issues in.”
Whereas Mr. Miller and Mr. Casey couldn’t slip within the patented Keanu Reeves line they wished they may have included, concern not. Due to a inventive video editor, we’ve come one step nearer to seeing what it could be like if Shadow the Hedgehog received to make that request of Matrix and John Wick fame:
There’s a refined stability that goes into making a fan-pleasing blockbuster like Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Director Jeff Fowler shared why extra recreation characters weren’t in Sonic 3, and in one other interview with IGN, Pat Casey and Josh Miller shared {that a} skeletal cameo of Large the Cat was nixed from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Additionally, you followers who have been hoping that Sarah Paulson’s rumored Rouge the Bat function was going to occur, she’s truly been deleted from all three footage up to now.
Though with Sonic the Hedgehog 4 formally introduced , there’s no telling what traces, easter eggs, or appearances could also be within the works. We’ll simply have to attend, because the fourth installment isn’t scheduled to reach till spring 2027. Within the meantime, you may nonetheless catch Sonic 3 in theaters, in addition to revisit the primary two movies and the Knuckles spinoff collection, by way of your Paramount+ subscription.