One of many 2024 motion pictures nonetheless making a reputation within the new 12 months is director Jeff Fowler’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Launched for the vacation season, folks proceed to speak about issues like Jim Carrey’s twin performances as the 2 Robotnik relations as a spotlight of all the affair. Whereas it does break the canon of the Sega video video games, the writing crew admitted that it was performed in a means that truly makes complete sense.
Talking with our sister website Complete Movie, co-writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller laid out the massive change that noticed Gerald Robotnik faraway from Sonic Journey 2’s flashback-exclusive previous and put into Sonic 3’s actively-dangerous current. Casey particularly laid out the highway to creating this resolution, courtesy of this chain of thought:
The largest change, actually, was making it so Gerald remains to be alive; bringing Gerald into the current as a substitute of solely being a flashback villain who exists solely prior to now, as a result of there’s only a restrict to what number of flashbacks we wish to have. We wished to make him extra of a gift hazard, giving us an actual villain, as a result of we knew from the start we wished to search out a possibility to get Sonic and Ivo extra stuff collectively. So the thought of them teaming up was an enormous factor on the to do checklist, although clearly any such crew up was at all times non permanent.
It’s humorous that Pat Casey talked about how he and Josh Miller wished to observe the variety of flashbacks that had been included in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, particularly when that very same machine was used to bolster the presence of one other character. As I had mentioned in my very own interview with this writing crew, Sonic 3’s spoilery Commander Walters storyline was helped by the truth that the G.U.N. bigwig turned one of many solely folks to learn about Shadow (Keanu Reeves) – save for Gerald Robotnik himself.
Whereas it’s additionally true that having each Gerald and Ivo in the identical timeline allowed for lots of Jim Carrey’s critically-acclaimed double handed shenanigans, there’s yet another sensible objective this Sonic 3 switcheroo needed to serve. As Josh Miller shared in his continued remarks, an enormous theme of the general franchise benefitted from making this transformation:
It turned such an enormous factor within the Sonic film franchise that Ivo is an orphan, so it was simply exhausting to withstand the thought of what would occur if he instantly discovered that he has a member of the family. Because the Sonic motion pictures are all about discovered household.
A lot as any hero wants a darker mirror of what their life may have been, giving Ivo Robotnik a bit little bit of brightness via rediscovering his grandfather made the story for this installment much more rewarding. On the funnier aspect, the choice to place Gerald Robotnik into the trendy day allowed for Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s iconic Robotnik laser dance to be doable.
Nevertheless the drama concerned in Paramount and Sega’s newest field workplace hit additionally offers a depth to Sonic 3 most likely weren’t anticipating. Sure, I’m being correctly cryptic, as I believe folks ought to nonetheless see Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in its theatrical run! Significantly, there is a fairly big motive this Robotnik canon crush works, however that you must see the film to learn about it.
Additionally, if you wish to revisit Sonic’s earlier movies, in addition to the Knuckles standalone spinoff collection, a Paramount+ subscription is all you’ll have to stand up to hurry. And talking of Velocity, take a look at extra from my interview with Pat Casey & Josh Miller, as they informed me a couple of Keanu Reeves reference that nearly made Sonic 3.