Keanu Reeves voices archvillain Shadow in Sonic 3 trailer

Some lucky folks got a heads-up last week that a trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was about to drop when Paramount Pictures released a playable Sega Genesis gaming cartridge to select individuals. Hidden among a mini-game and character posters and accessible by entering a cheat code was the trailer release date. True to its word, Paramount just dropped the final trailer for the third film in the successful franchise. All our favorite characters are back, as well as a couple of new ones, most notably a new villain familiar to fans of the games: Shadow, voiced by Keanu Reeves. (Spoilers for the first two films below.) As previously reported, in the first film, Sonic (Ben Schwartz) teamed up with local town sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) to stop the sinister mad scientist Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). Robotnik wanted to catch and experiment on the hedgehog, and if he could also frame Tom as a domestic terrorist, even better. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 picked up with a defeated Robotnik trapped on a faraway mushroom planet and plotting revenge. Robotnik escaped and teamed up with Knuckles (Idris Elba), a Sonic-like CGI echidna, to track down Sonic. Oh, and they were also hunting for an emerald with the power to destroy civilization. Sonic teamed up with his own sidekick, Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey), to find the emerald before it fell into the wrong hands. They naturally succeeded and decided to live a life of ease with the Wachowskis. As noted in our 2022 review, while the film wasn't exactly a cinematic triumph, it was still an enjoyable, family-friendly option. All the main cast members have returned for this third outing: Schwartz; Marsden; Carrey; Elba; O'Shaughnessey; Tika Sumpter as Tom's wife, Maddie; Natasha Rothwell as Maddie's sister, Rachel; Lee Majdoub as Agent Stone, evil sidekick to Robotnik; Tom Butler as Commander Walters; Adam Pally as dim-witted Deputy Sheriff Wade Whipple; and Shemar Moore as Rachel's husband, Randall. In addition to Reeves, new cast members include Krysten Ritter as Director Rockwell; Alyla Browne as Maria, a young girl from Shadow's past; and Sofia Pernas, Cristo Fernandez, James Wolk, and Jorma Taccone in as-yet-undisclosed roles. Sonic 3 will also introduce the Chao creatures of Chao Gardens.

A tragic backstory

It's no surprise that Carrey is back once again as "Eggman" Robotnik, and this time, he's playing a dual role: Robotnik and the character's grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, a genetic engineer who created Shadow while trying to cure his daughter Maria from a deadly disease. In the games, Shadow suffers from past trauma associated with Maria's death; the two were close friends. When she is killed by the Guardian Units of Nations (GUN), Shadow sets out for revenge before remembering his promise to Maria to prevent the destruction of the world. He eventually becomes an anti-hero ally to Sonic. We already knew that the third film would probably feature Shadow, thanks to a mid-credits scene in Sonic 2 informing us about the discovery of a secret research facility for something called "Project Shadow." (Director Jeff Fowler once worked as a character animator, and Shadow was one of his first jobs.) It's clear from the new trailer that Shadow is in his early villain phase here. The trailer opens with Sonic and pals in a kid-friendly eatery, where one child mistakes Tails for Pikachu—before they are rudely attacked. Cut to Robotnik Sr. intoning, "It's time, Shadow"—time for revenge. The trio is captured by the Robotniks, but they escape and end up in the Wachowskis' living room, and naturally the couple joins them on a super dangerous top-secret mission. We see a flashback to Shadow's friendship with Maria as well as Sonic and Shadow getting ready to throw down ("This ends now"). The smart money, as always, is on Team Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 opens in theaters on December 20, 2024.