The Sonic 3 director says Keanu Reeves nailed the most important part of Shadow's role: "He was very clear about what the Maria relationship meant."

Sonic 3 director Jeff Fowler says Keanu Reeves completely understood the task when it came to playing Shadow the Hedgehog.

Previously, Fowler mentioned that Reeves did “research” before taking on the role of the ultimate life form in the Sonic Threequel. When we asked him what that homework entailed, the director said he wasn’t sure of the “specifics” but would “definitely not question the fact that he delved deep into the subject matter.”

“His questions were really smart,” Fowler tells GamesRadar+. “He was very clear about what the relationship between Shadow and Maria meant to Shadow as a character (and) to the fans as a story that they loved. He just knew we really had to get it done for the film.”

For Fowler, the chance to tell a “very poignant” version of Shadow and Maria’s story (in the Sonic games, she’s the driving force behind Shadow’s initial hatred of humanity after Maria is killed) was paramount, too fit in with the rest of the action in Sonic 3 if necessary.

“Because the movie is so big and has so many moving parts and characters, there’s a good chance you’ll never get as much time as you’d like to tell some of these stories,” Fowler explains.

“It was hugely important to tell a very poignant version of this story, but to do it very efficiently. Alyla Brown, who plays Maria, was phenomenal and just a natural. It’s not easy to play these non-existent characters (on set) and she had a great imagination and just gave us a really great performance.”

Sonic 3, starring Ben Schwartz, Keanu Reeves, Jim Carrey, Idris Elba, James Marsden, Krysten Ritter, Tika Sumpter and Colleen O’Shaughnessey, is in cinemas on December 20th in the US and December 21st in the UK.

For more on Blue Blur, check out our ranking of the best Sonic games and our interview with Jim Carrey about why Sonic is his first film trilogy.

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The Sonic 3 director says Keanu Reeves nailed the most important part of Shadow’s role: “He was very clear about what the Maria relationship meant.”

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