Keanu Reeves will play Shadow the Hedgehog in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, according to The Hollywood Reporter. By voicing Sonic’s black-furred counterpart, the John Wick star joins an already star-studded cast comprised of Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Idris Elba, and Jim Carrey.
The news follows Paramount showcasing snippets of the upcoming film (due out in theaters December 20th) at a CinemaCon last week. Reportedly, the teaser featured a depressed Dr. Robotnik (Carrey) looking to gain back his spark by creating Shadow, a darker foil of his greatest nemesis, Sonic.
Sega has also fittingly declared 2024 to be the “Year of Shadow,” celebrating the movie and the Sonic X Shadow Generations video game with lego sets, motorcycles, and general fanfare.
The first two films in the franchise garnered a mixed critical reception, though performed quite well at the box office. Pulling in over $700 million combined, Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic 2 appear to be anomalies in the barren landscape of video game adaptations. The franchise even garnered a Paramount+ spinoff series centered around Elba’s Knuckles.
Reeves, for his part, has been gobbling up high-profile roles for the last few years, from Bill & Ted Face the Music to The Matrix Resurrections to DC League of Super-Pets (which saw Reeves portray Batman). The actor also recently revived his rock band Dogstar. You can listen to him chat about picking his bass guitar back up on the Kyle Meredith with… podcast.
Also be sure to read our review of Sonic the Hedgehog here, as well as why we reconsidered our initial thoughts here.
