Sonic 2 Movie Stars And Director Talk Bringing The Blue Blur Back To the Silver Screen

The first Sonic the HedgehogFilm was an unremarkable success story. After a disappointing trailer in which the blue hedgehog appeared far from what he appears in other media, the studio redesigned the film. The backlash didn’t discourage the filmmakers. It motivated Jeff Fowler, director of the studio to give more thought to the passionate fan base.

“They were absolutely right to request us to work harder and to make adjustments,” Fowler says. “And then to come out the other side and for everyone to be able to high five and celebrate, it felt like we ended in a place where they were happy, and the film was a film that they could embrace. Now, moving forward, it just feels like we have this really wonderful relationship with the fans.”

It was easy to see that the character designs were more like Sonic’s. The box office results showed a grateful audience with the film earning more than $300,000,000 worldwide. Fowler and his crew delivered authenticity in response to their fans.

Part of that equation included actors who provided authentic performances for the brand’s biggest characters. Jim Carrey (Dumb and Dumber, The MaskAs Dr. Robotnik, he gave an impressive performance. Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation, House of LiesSonic the Hedgehog (played by ) has been a long-time fan. It was an amazing dream to be able to play the part of Sonic the Hedgehog. However, to find his performance as Sonic, he intentionally didn’t study any of the other interpretations of the character.

“When I read the script, to me, Sonic felt like this kid, this really energetic kid,” Schwartz says. “I didn’t really look at the other performances, so I took it from the movie script because I didn’t want to feel like I was copying anything. But in my head, I was like, ‘I want him to have heart, I want him to be excited, I want him to feel like a kid, and I want him to be funny. I want him to deflate any situation that feels too big for him with a joke, because he’s been through a lot of stuff, so that’s kind of how he’s lived his life.’”

Sonic meets Tom in the first movie, played by James Marsden as a father figure character.Westworld, X-Men). Marsden is no stranger to prominent roles. However, it was a first time for him to act alongside virtual characters.

“I’ve worked with actors where the animated hedgehog who’s not there is more animated than the person I’m acting opposite,” Marsden says, laughing. “It’s a different skillset. You’re on set and you’re sitting in a rowboat having a heart-to-heart with your son, and he’s not there; it’s just a voice from behind the camera somewhere. It definitely takes a little bit of your imagination.”

In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, moviegoers are introduced to silver-screen versions of Tails and Knuckles, voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey (Sonic BoomIdrisElba (, Sonic Forces), and Idris Bennett (, Sonic Forces).The Wire, Suicide Squad), respectively. Like Carrey, Elba provides A-List star power, but O’Shaughnessey grants additional authenticity, thanks to her long tenure voicing Tails in the games and recent TV series.

O’Shaughnessey thought her appearance as Tails in the first movie’s credits scene would be a one-and-done situation and never expected to join the main cast. “I had no idea where this would go; I had no idea how excited people would be to see it!” she says. “People sent me videos of their theaters exploding in joy! I knew people liked Tails, but I had no concept of how that reaction was going to go!”

Sonic the Hedgehog IIThe trailers recreate many iconic scenes from the game. Fowler likes the Sonic 3 and Sonic Adventure scenes, however the snowboard scene is very similar to the games. “Tails flying the Tornado, delivering Sonic into battle on the biplane … it’s such an iconic image from Sonic 2,” he says. “To be able to do the big-screen, cinematic version of that, it gave all of us goosebumps and got us so excited.”

Schwartz also agrees. Sonic the Hedgehog II delivers plenty of fanservice and nods to iconic moments from the games, but he also has a list of other game moments he’d love to make the jump to live-action. “Oh my goodness, in Sonic 2, the casino zone is pretty amazing!” he excitedly says. “But there is this zone in Sonic Mania – though I guess it wouldn’t make sense because we’re a film – but in Sonic Mania there’s this incredible zone that’s all about movies and zapping you from a TV to a different TV. It was amazing to me how incredible all this stuff was. I’m a big side-scroller guy because that’s what I came up with. Sonic 2 has so many things I’d love to put in there. Sonic Mania has a similar fun vibe.”

Sonic the Hedgehog II is in theaters now, but don’t think that once you see it that’s the end of the Sonic saga. Paramount Pictures has greenlit a third movie and Paramount Plus has produced a live-action series starring Knuckles. You can add a scene in the middle of credits for Sonic the Hedgehog IIThat sets the scene for the next Sonic entry. It’s exciting, and the future of live-action Sonic looks bright.