This article contains spoilers for the Sonic the Hedgehog film and game series.

Since Paramount’s animated Take Sonic hit our screens – not The sound – Fans of the super-fast hedgehog and his deep gaming story have been waiting for certain characters and versions of the cast to make their big screen debut. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 features some highly anticipated appearances from popular heroes and villains that will change the shape of the upcoming film series. Now that the Blue Blur and his companions have hit the holiday box office, we’re here to break down all the new appearances you need to know about and why they matter in the annals of Sonic the Hedgehog history.

Gerald Robotnik

Jim Carrey has been providing laughs since the first Sonic film in 2020 as the often grotesque Ivo Robotnik, but returns here in a dual role, playing the original villain and his nefarious grandfather Gerald. Not just the performance the best thing about the film But according to our reviewer, it also introduces a key player in Sonic history and one of the series’ most evil yet tragic villains. First appearing in the 2001 3D platformer Sonic Adventure 2, Gerald Robotnik is another super-intelligent scientist behind the mysterious “Project Shadow.”

Through gameplay and numerous character flashbacks, players learn that the project was his plan to find immortality. At first it seemed like a selfish mission until it was revealed that he was actually trying to save his terminally ill granddaughter Maria. We’ll get to it in a moment, but otherwise his story is relatively similar to what we saw in Sonic 3. Although it appears that Gerald died at the end of the film, his video game story hints at a possible comeback for the villain in the previously announced Sonic 4. After he disappeared in the games, Gerald was forced to work for GUN to continue his experiments, and also ended up on Prison Island – which we saw briefly in this film – before being executed.

It seems unlikely that the PG film series will adapt this dark part of his story, but considering that this time they’ve brought to life the deeply controversial murder of a child, you should never say never.

Mary

Speaking of the celebrated child murder from the Sonic series: we finally meet Maria (Alyla Browne), the best friend of Shadow the Hedgehog (Keanu Reeves), cousin of Ivo Robotnik and the tragically ill granddaughter of Gerald, who inspires his genocidal rage in the film has games. Through an extensive sequence of flashbacks, we witness the joy that Maria brought into Shadow’s life and the sadness that her untimely death at the hands of GUN caused Shadow and Gerald, essentially the same lore as in the games. However, it was there that she was actually shot by a GUN agent – a dark moment for the entire franchise – as she tried to help Shadow escape the military group’s clutches.

Even though Maria won’t be resurrected in the next film, her influence will still be felt. Shadow is still alive at the end of the film, meaning her loss will likely still drive him, especially as he takes on a more heroic role in the next film. So don’t expect any more Maria flashbacks, even as the franchise moves on from her untimely death.

Shadow

The Ultimate Life Form has long been considered one of the coolest characters in the Sonic canon. When Keanu Reeves – one of the coolest actors in the world – was chosen for his role, it felt like a match made in heaven. The inclusion of Shadow immediately meant that the film would take up some of the aforementioned dark lore and create a recurring rival or ally for Sonic. We get an interesting reinterpretation of his origins here, in which he is an organic life form like Sonic, Knuckles and Tails, rather than a creation of Gerald Robotnik like in the game. In this original lore, Shadow was created as part of the elder Robotnik’s plan to save the life of his granddaughter Maria, and struggled with a severe existential crisis when he could not help but heal the young girl.

As we mentioned above, Maria meets a fateful end in both the games and films, shaping his future as Team Sonic’s antagonist and ally. Another major addition to Sonic Adventures 2, Shadow is an incredibly powerful character inspired by famous anti-heroes like Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. Just like the ending of Sonic 3, Sonic Adventures 2 also ended with Shadow’s apparent death, but since that game he has reappeared several times and become one of the most popular characters in the series. When it comes to what we can expect from Shadow in Sonic 4, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the aliens known as Black Doom, part of his classic origin. We could also imagine the evil phantom copy of the anti-hero coming into play as a potential antagonist for him and Sonic to face off against again.

Supershadow

Just as Sonic 2 finally bought the gold-colored, super-powered, heroic evolution of Sonic – Super Sonic – Sonic 3 also introduces the souped-up version of Shadow. The action takes place in the third act as the pair use the Chaos Emeralds to become Super to save the day and defeat Robotnik Sr. In the original game, this is more aesthetic than actually power-based, but in the film we saw the characters’ super transformations giving them extra speed, power, and immense hit power. It’s another nice nod to its gaming origins as well as an epic final act battle, and we’ll certainly see Super Shadow and Sonic when Sonic 4 releases in 2027.

Metal Sonic

The film’s first post-credits scene reveals that one of Sonic’s most dangerous enemies has arrived in the Paramount Sonic universe. Metal Sonic – a futuristic evolution of Eggman’s Badnik bots – has haunted players and the titular hero since 1993’s Sonic the Hedgehog CD. The high-tech, super-powered threat is like a bizarro version of the heroic hedgehog, rather than friendly and funny He loves to be cold and brutal. And what’s even scarier here is that in the post-credit scene, we actually see several Metal Sonics ready to clear the blue blur.

Considered one of Sonic’s most fearsome and cruel enemies, Metal Sonic is endowed with sentience thanks to his AI chip. Metal Sonic is often allied with Eggman. But will this also be true in Sonic 4, even though Jim Carrey’s temperamental villain has seemingly been defeated? We’d love to know the answer! What we can say with certainty, however, is that the metallic threats have a serious problem with their cold, shiny hands…

Amy Rose

A mysterious ally arrives just in time to help Sonic against the tide of Metal Sonics in the mid-credits scene. The hooded helper swings a giant weapon around with elegant efficiency and turns out to be none other than one of Sonic’s oldest friends and biggest fans: Amy Rose! That weapon is of course her Piko Piko Hammer, probably the most iconic of all the weapons in Sonic cannon Canon (pun intended).

Amy Rose also first appeared on the Sonic the Hedgehog CD and has been a staple in almost all Sonic games since, as well as the series’ female lead (sorry, Rouge fans, maybe she’ll get her due respect from Paramount one day soon). ). . Amy isn’t just a fighter – she also has a mystical side thanks to her love of fortune telling and tarot – and hopefully Sonic 4 will show us all the facets of this fascinating and fun heroine.

Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN, covering everything from anime to comics to kaiju to children’s films to horror films. She has more than half a decade of experience in entertainment journalism, with writing credits at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and more.