‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’: Keanu Reeves Makes His Debut as Shadow in New Trailer

After months of waiting from fans, Paramount is finally offering its first glimpse of Keanu Reeves in “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” where he will be playing the Sega video game star’s longtime rival, Shadow.

Loosely based on the 2001 Dreamcast game “Sonic Adventure 2” where Shadow made his debut, “Sonic 3” will see the Blue Blur (Ben Schwartz) and his new friends Tails and Knuckles (Colleen O’Shaughnessy and Idris Elba) encounter the black and red hedgehog, who has awakened after years in stasis after being created in a secret government project. He has all of Sonic’s super speed, with none of the interest in being a hero.

“He’s far more impressive than the hedgehog I fought previously,” remarks Knuckles, much to Sonic’s chagrin.

But that’s only the beginning of Sonic’s problems. His longtime foe Dr. Eggman, played once again by Jim Carrey, has emerged from hiding, and the hedgehog has no choice but to make an uneasy alliance with him to defeat the Ultimate Lifeform.

The two previous “Sonic” films were released on opposite ends of the year-long shutdown of movie theaters forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first “Sonic” film grossed $319 million at the global box office in February 2020 just before the shutdown. Two years later, “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” became the first family hit of the post-shutdown box office with $405 million.

Since then, the success of titles like “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s” has only further increased the interest in video game films, and Paramount is banking on Sonic earning even more at the box office during the holiday season as it goes head-to-head with Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King.”

“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” hits theaters Dec. 20. Watch the trailer in the clip above.

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