#there will be more sonic stories in the future

[my-sandwich-it-was-innocent]

I realized something phenomenonal about how Sonic 3 wrote the movies story

Live and Learn was the foundation its story beats.

-Verse 1 is Shadows arc in the first half of movie

Can you feel life movin' through your mind? (Shadow mentions only being able to think about those traumatic events while in stasis)

Ooh, looks like it came back for more, yeah! (Self explanatory Shadow waking up)

Can you feel time slippin' down your spine? (Dhadow coming to terms its been 50 years)

Ooh, you try and try to ignore, yeah! (Shadow attempting to forget his grief and pain)

-Verse 2 is Sonics arc

Can you feel life tangle you up inside? (Wrestling with the fact that he Sonic the Hedgehog is not particularly unique and theres another Hedgehog like him stronger then any of him and his friends)

Yeah, now you're facedown on the floor, oh! (Literally a moment in the movie hes facedown fighting to save his new family)

But you can't save your sorrow, You've paid in trade ( Tom being injured by Shadow)

And you can't help but follow (Sonic following his anger and using the Super form he said he would never use again)

It puts you right back where you came (Sonic becoming all alone again due to his anger)

-Bridge with Sonic and Shadow reconciling

There's a face searching far, so far and wide (Shadow looking at the stars just like he did with Maria)

There's a place where you dreamed you'd never find (Sonic telling Shadow about his own grief of Longclaw and how he continues with the love they had for each other)

Hold on to "what if"! Hold on to "what if"! ( A light shines, even if the star is gone)

-Chorus is actually Geralds story and the path Shadow too wouldve followed had Sonic not talked to him on the moon

Hanging on the edge of tomorrow ( focuses on the fact he doesnt see a future and wants to make sure no one does)

From the works of yesterday ( his obsession he had with the wrongdoings GUN had done to him in the past and Marias death)

If you beg or if you borrow (about how he begged GUN to not end his project and how he then has GUN make the ARK for him to steal and use later)

You may never find your way (the fact in the end he couldnt let go of that revenge and pain like Shadow)

-and finally "Live and Learn!" (Marias wish for both Shadow and Gerald to move past her death and to live their lives with her light as a gentle pushing force one which Shadow heard)

[borrelia]

specifically: the longest stc story in a single issue is 7 pages. most are 5 pages. theres usually 4 stories of various kinds per issue, with game news and guide pages.

also for context, stc's stories are like a third of the length of an archie or idw story since they're packed in with a bunch of other stuff i dont care about. im blasting through a bunch of issues because they're really short

[donelywell]

HERES YOUR ART PAYMENT

SILVER!!!! (and Espio)

The boyyyy!!! Worth every cent!

[true-blue-sonic]

I've heard at least one person suggest that the one who tried to get the Chaotix to go after Silver was, in fact, Eggman Nega; as, in his ideal turn of events, the deal would've simply ended with Espio just capturing Silver and thus preventing anyone from interfering with Nega's plan of releasing the Ifrit and powering it with Chao. The fact that Espio decided to hear Silver out at all and then started trusting him inexplicably is the only reason it ended up backfiring.

OH DAMN

OH I LOVE THAT

You see, I was reasoning that Nega actually wouldn't do that: why would he direct more people towards the Chao disappearances who could intervene and rescue them? He'd just be shooting himself in the foot by asking a group of detectives to mingle themselves into the problem, with the chance they'd take potentially-capturable Chao from right under his nose and/or find out what's truly going on. But you're absolutely right!! Even with Sonic & Tails and Espio & Silver rescuing Chao, Nega himself says he has enough of them in Mystic Haunt Zone to make the Ifrit invincible anyway. The only reason this doesn't succeed is because Sonic and Tails just so happened to find the room and take all the Chao along with them before Silver and Espio did and before Nega could continue with the plan. Add to that the fact that Eggman in Shadow's/Metal Sonic's story figures Nega is Rouge's client and is making her collect the Chaos Emeralds: we thus know Nega has done so with at least one person in the past. Furthermore, this isn't mentioned explicitly in the game itself, but Vector does somehow know Silver's name and that he "showed up" one day, despite Silver being a time traveller whose prior adventure was kept entirely contained to Onyx Island and like four other people. Even if it's not explicitly said in the game Vector got that info from the client in question (and the wording seems contradictory to this idea, even, but it could maybe be an As You Know introduction for the player), it's also not impossible either. And lastly, Nega is noted to be short-sighted and lose track of the tinier details easily, so him figuring that the Chaotix couldn't possibly find out his real identity and plans does fit here as well, I would say.

I love how, in this scenario (and my Espilver fic because I am absolutely going to be diving into this more), there was so much hinging on Espio chasing down Silver and capturing him... and he just did not, lol. You know how Sonic Channel's story with Sonic and Silver in Soleanna mentions how Silver's "way of life" inspires people and makes them want to watch over him and cheer him on forever? If I can nicely write that into Stories with Silver and Espio, I'll be one happy gal <3

[sonknuxadow]

ive always assumed that blaze is the sol dimension equivalent of sonic not in a "is actually sonic" kind of way but that she just plays a similar role as him and mirrors him in a lot of ways. however ive seen some people talk about her as if she's Literally sonic from an alternate dimension. so now im curious what everyone else thinks and im making a poll

[izzydaninja]

Masterpost Continuation:

_____________________________________________________________

Art/FanArt/Sketches:

_____________________________________________________________

Original Works/OC's -

Chibi (Monkie Kid Styled) Izzy Sketch

Chibi (Monkie Kid Styled) Izzy's Stuck Sketchy Doodle

Ninjago -

Come Home Artwork

Ninjago X Monkie Kid -

Redraws: The Kai Kai & Jay Witness Fire Zane & Jay Pilots Home Training Oni Transformation Home is a Desire

Practice Sketches: Zaney Bedtime Doodles 1 Year Anniversary/Zane Sketch Practice

Non-Redraws: Jay Poster Shot

Sonic the Hedgehog -

Sonic Prime: Changes Everything (Doodle)

Super Sonic Comic - Practice

Sonic Sketch

One Step Forward, and Falling Back

Living Proof

Dynamic Pose - Redraw

Future Chaos (AU)

Protect Your Heart

Before Bed Doodle(s)

Dynamic Pose - Practice

Bedtime Sketch

Sonic Prime: Alternate Ending Comic Comic Page: Conflicted Heart (Progress) Conflicted Heart Comic Pg. 1 Comic Page 2: Conflicted Heart (Progress) Conflicted Heart Comic Pg. 2

Sonic X Shadow Generations: Shadow Generations Redraw Sketch

Redraw Contest: First Post Second Post

Chaotic Reaction: Sonic and Baby Shadow - Doodles (1) Sonic and Baby Shadow - Doodles (2) Sonic and Baby Shadow - Part 1 (Doodle) Baby Sonic AU Doodles - Origin of CR Baby Shadow - Doodle

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog: Captain Sonic Locksmith Shadow Journalist Amy Detective Tails Sheriff Knuckles Business Tycoon Rouge Titan of Industry Blaze Poet Espio ???

Legend of Zelda -

Ocarina of Time Young Link Sketch

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[That should, hopefully, be everything! Please let me know if I missed anything! I also hope this was helpful! Though, I definitely need to work on my organization better. LOL I also apologize if any links aren't working or heading where they're supposed to. If they aren't, please notify me. Thank you!]

_____________________________________________________________

[trappedinchemicalplantzone]

not sonic related sorry not sorry

but here's some quick art of my ocs !!

their names in order are Luperca, Verto, and Valdis, I might post some more about them here

hopefully these guys can help me get out of my art block so I can tackle my requests

[wereh0gz]

I'm gonna be honest I'm so tempted to just look up a playthrough or cutscene comp of final horizon and unblock the tags bc I really don't want to keep playing it lmao

[sonicprim3d]

Don't interfere in the past are the words repeated in his head. You could end up changing things in ways you would never be able to predict he tells himself. You'd make Silver's life harder trying to do something to the past he warns himself. You could make everyone's life harder by getting involved he reminds himself.

But, yet, he knows. Deep down. If he came face to face with her, even for just a moment, he'd get involved. She doesn't deserve that the voice in his heart screams. She never deserved it rages his heart. And in the end, he always listens to his heart. For better or for worse.

[flamechar33]

I am only posting enough about some Sonic AUs I've had in mind for context for an image I've come up with that I don't think I can just Not share: This entire chain of AU ideas started when I was in my mid/late teens when I started reading Ghosts of the Future (that Future AU written by Ian Flynn Evan Stanley, don't know how I got that wrong ) and after catching up I ended up thinking up a Future AU of that set after GUN's been defeated. All that's relevant of what I called GofT Whirlwind is:

The 'main' character who I'll refer to as the originally planned last name Hunter is a descendant of Infinite and son of a famous Extreme Gear racer known as the 6th Black Baron, who originally was a member of GUN before a whole Plot happened and ended up on the other side and taking up the mantle of his dad's opposing racer the Red Rider. (He was a faded green wolf originally but now I'm thinking that Hunter and his dad should be Jackals. Also I could go into depth about his suit as the Red Rider and how it isn't necessarily red. Also I can't remember if the notion of Chaos Powers was introduced in GotF or if I just expanded/made it up from somewhere, but his ability was Chaos Sight which gave him...essentially Eagle Vision from AC? idk I was inspired by the tracking mechanic from Lego Lord of the Rings. There's also just too many OCs from this to talk about Just in this post so, like, ask I guess.)

The only other OC I will mention is sleeper agent murder android fox who very much does not like 4 of those 5 words and ends up defecting before Hunter. She's called Sabina, probably more of the protagonist than Hunter is at first.

Tails uploaded his mind immediately post death to become an AI. He gets a robot body after being stuck inside the Tornado up until (reads notes) Story Chapter 2 of...5? (the entire Plot I mentioned earlier? That's just Chapter number 1)

Also there's another noteable part of this AU which is that Infinite had a sister who survived/left, who had a son who ended up as a part of the batch of Rookies and the main one's best friend. Remember this later

Then I ended up making an AU of the Dark GotF AU (where Shadow died instead) with Hunter having things A Lot Worse. His family died in a resistance raid and he nearly burnt to death, only to be taken by the GUN higher ups and made into a living chimera weapon who could absorb Chaos powers through absorbing blood. His deal in this AU is that when he gets introduced he pretty much only likes Silver, and that he disguises his nature with a longcoat, gloves, orange tinted glasses and a lot of other things to hide the wings and tail...and pretty much everything but his head.

That's the past context: onto this year, where Adult Me is looking back and brainstorming/rethinking again, while I'm also looking at IDW comics - especially Surge. I looked at Surge and Kit, I looked at Dark GotF Hunter, and said "yeah this could be fun" So onto the last AU of this, this time of IDW. A bad future ends up happening with Eggman Empire in control because Surge ended up killing Sonic, so Silver ended up going back in time to help Sonic. Hunter ended up going back in time as well to also stop Surge but meets them and goes "wow ok these guys need help." Sabrina also comes back in time but everyone thinks she's here to stop them from Preventing Sonic's death.

Long Story Short Surge ends up unable to kill Sonic, Sabrina finally gets to reveal that No she's here to stop Hunter because he gets all the Chaos Powers and ends up getting a vision that Maybe drives him insane/is him being possessed. I would have kept that as a surprise but Hunter going and releasing Infinite from the Phantom Ruby as his right hand man is important. But eventually everyone (except Sonic) wins and the future is changed again with only the timetravellers remembering the whole deal.

A later incident ends up with the planet from two different times (present and Silver's future) being in each other's sky. Another long story but basically Infinite joins Eggman and the future villain because he learnt from last time that he has surviving family, and basically Hunter redeems himself during this whole thing and takes Infinite to go see his sister (leading to him retiring). AI Tails also appears from the future world.

Then there's story set exclusively in the future, which I'm Not going to spoil since If I write it well it's going to have some really good twists, but I ended up thinking about in this future Surge and Kit being immortal due to whatever Starline did to them (Kit's also taller now) and them being part of Gun, and a bit where Shadow and Robo Tails meeting up with them (Tails is not allowed in Kit's stuff) ended up during the thinking process having Surge say something along the lines of "the hangout's not today".

So yeah, the image: Shadow, Surge, Kit, Robo AI Tails, Infinite, Metal and Mecha Sonic all sitting around at their usual immortals hangout session.

That's it, that's the entire reason I've released the knowledge of 3 of my Sonic AUs out into the wild. dropping this and seeing what happens overnight

[lee-the-yeen]

Literally this

people always talk about evil clones like oooh a dark mirror oohh what if you saw what are cruel person you were/are capable of becoming. and well yes but what if you were the evil clone. what if you looked in the mirror and what you saw was so bright it blinded you. what if you had to know exactly how good you could have been.

[sonicrainicorn]

Believe it or not, sometimes I make original content

[e-vay]

His Lucky Star

Awhile ago I asked for sonamy headcanons (and I’m always hungry for more!) and I received the most beautiful headcanon from @hedgethemaze and I just had to illustrate it!

Thank you @hedgethemaze for the opportunity to draw your short story 😊

You can read Hedge’s original headcanon below the cut:

Sonic and Amy’s favorite nighttime pastime is stargazing 🌙​⭐​🌠​👀​

Amy enjoys making out constellations and discovering new figures drawn in the sky and would occasionally make up stories with them – She knows Sonic finds this a bit childish, but appreciates that he doesn’t let it show and listens to her stories, instead (even participating once in a while, throwing in some action to keep them from being too daydream-y lol).

Sometimes, looking at the stars would remind Sonic of Starfall Islands – of cyber space – of Amy being at arm's length yet, an entire plane of existence out of his reach. The thought makes him reach for her hand as they lay on their backs on the grass, with a whole new appreciation for the feel of her hand nestled in his - Amy, aware of the gnawing memory, would shift her hand and intertwine their fingers, successfully chasing the memory away.

And some other times, she’d say those stories are just bedtime-story-practice to tell their 'future' child/children, only to tease him because there’s nothing as amusing to her as watching Sonic go from cool blue to cherry red live in record time 😆

About stargazing - it occurred to me that it could be more than likely for Sonamy to catch sight of a shooting star.

Well, I imagine Sonic would notice Amy staring at the shooting star in silence, knowingly waiting for her to say something but then the star disappears from view and he'd say "huh... kinda thought you were gonna wish something for a sec,"

Amy, realizing what he means, would jump a little on her spot next to him, they'd still be holding hands, but she scooches over and rests her head on his shoulder.

"Oh! Well, actually," she rubs her cheek on his shoulder and her grip on his hand tightens "I have everything I could wish for already."

Sonic notes she's got her eyes closed, now more interested in the warmth their bodies are sharing amidst the nightly breeze. Sonic blushes, hoping in vane she doesn't notice his body getting warmer at her statement.

"What about you? Don't you have any wishes?" Amy is genuinely curious (she can feel his awkwardness, so she doesn't tease him 'this time').

Sonic looks away, the hand that's not being held by Amy scratches a very reddish cheek, taking a deep breath to cool himself, "Nah..." the shyness quickly evaporating from his voice and he braves returning her gesture by, ever so slightly, snuggling against the top of her head. Leaving Starfall in the past, to focus on the present, Sonic's already made up his mind. "I'm good, Ames."

[demilypyro]

Honestly I never liked Starline much. As far as IDW's original characters went, he was my least favorite. For a long time, he was just Eggman's overeager sidekick, and I didn't really see what he was supposed to add. But supposedly, Surge and Kit were planned characters right from the very start of the comic's run. And if that's true, it reframes Starline's character a lot.

If the goal all along was to eventually introduce Surge and Kit into the plot, then it makes sense they needed to introduce a new character to create them. Because a lot of the drama of their characters comes from their trauma. They were kidnapped, tortured and brainwashed, and who they were before that is unknown. The only person who knows their pasts is Starline. And in the very same issue that fully introduces Surge and Kit into the series, issue 50, Starline gets summarily killed off. It's been 24 issues since, and there's been no sign of him. The only person who knows their pasts is gone.

Through this lens, the utility of Starline's character becomes very clear. They wanted to introduce Surge and Kit, but needed to build towards them. They had to justify their existence in the narrative with the proper drama. Erasing their past was one way to do this, but this necessitates another character entirely. Someone needed to create them, and that person would need to go away. It couldn't be Eggman, since Eggman will always survive and return eventually. But an entirely original character could freely be killed off. Still, his influence could continue to haunt Surge and Kit.

Starline's arc was one of lost faith. He began by idolizing Eggman and wanting to please him. But then he was shocked by Eggman's seeming unwillingness to just... win. Eggman didn't want to kill Sonic before proving his full superiority by beating him fairly, and Starline eventually lost his admiration for the man. This was established quite early, as early as issue 14, so we can tell these seeds were planted with his future arc in mind.

Rather than helping Eggman, it became Starline's goal to surpass Eggman, by breaking the narrative stalemate between the heroes and villains. Endless stories like that of Sonic require that the hero always win, but the villain always survive and return. He wanted to break that status quo, what he called The Sonic Cycle. What he didn't realize was how expendable he is as a character.

As a character stuck inside the narrative, he could see the cycle, but he didn't see why it existed: editorial oversight. The powers that be would never allow Sonic or Eggman to die. He never had the narrative importance to accomplish this. He was only ever a means to an end, a narrative tool to introduce Surge and Kit. That would be his only lasting legacy. And there's tragedy in that. But he was also downright awful, so I can't say I feel sorry for him.

In the end, he was another victim of The Sonic Cycle, outlived by his creations, who have far more narrative potential. Get dunked on.

[thankskenpenders]

Thoughts on Sonic 3!

On December 10th, 2018, I was on the last day of a trip to Milwaukee. The night before, I'd attended the wedding of one of my best friends, Jake, who I've known since high school. Even though half of us were sick the whole trip, it was a great time. Derek had asked the wedding DJ to play "One Week" as the first request of the night, and proceeded to lip sync the entire song on the dance floor. On that cold winter morning in a hotel room hundreds of miles from home, Derek and I groggily checked Twitter on our phones and saw the shocking news: Paramount had teased the design for Sonic from their upcoming live action film. Even in silhouette, the shape of his face and the realistic curvature of his limbs made him look like a grotesque little homunculus. This movie was going to suck.

Six years later, I've now seen the third entry in what's become a hugely successful Sonic film franchise. It features Keanu Reeves as the voice of Shadow the Hedgehog in a fairly faithful adaptation of his story from Sonic Adventure 2. At the time of writing, it currently sits at a whopping 86% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, vying for the title of the best-reviewed theatrically released video game movie of all time. Critics are saying nice things about the emotional journey of Shadow the Hedgehog. Never in a million years did I think I'd see this day.

I, too, have now seen this movie, and... yeah, it's pretty good.

I'm gonna get deep into spoilers here, so I'll just say up front that I liked the movie. It feels like just about the best possible execution of this version of Sonic. But that's also damning it with faint praise, depending on who you ask.

If you're a fan of the games who didn't like the second movie, you probably won't get much out of this one, either, unless you just really love Shadow so much that nothing else in the movie matters to you. It doesn't reinvent the wheel for this film series. It's still got a heaping helping of broad comedy, cheap pop culture references, bad one-liners, and characterization that diverges greatly from the source material. This is not high art, nor is it a direct adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. If you're the kind of person who hates this portrayal of Sonic and Eggman, or a lore nerd who'll hate that they let Shadow do Chaos Control without an Emerald, then just don't bother with this.

On the other hand, if you did enjoy the last movie, then you'll probably have a fun time here, too. Shadow is very cool. The action is the best it's ever been. There's a bit more focus on characters from the games, and less on human characters invented for the movies—with the exception of Agent Stone, who's in this a lot because everyone likes him. There's a lot of SA2 fanservice. They even play "Live and Learn." It's a fun time! Be sure to stick around through the end credits.

And now, to dig deeper, let's get into the spoilers! I'm gonna jump around a lot and talk about different aspects of the movie, spoiling everything along the way.

Shadow and his reams of lore

Here's the main thing you came for: Shadow is great in this! They really did him justice. Keanu Reeves is extremely solid in the role. He can be a bit flat as an actor sometimes, but I think he did well here. He can be tough and menacing, but he can also be earnest and emotionally vulnerable. Good casting call. Excited at the prospect of seeing more of him in the future.

Really, as a Sonic Lore Nerd I'm most interested in discussing the changes they made to Shadow's backstory. I'm sure there will be many fans upset with the changes, but for the sake of streamlining a complicated backstory that was subject to a bunch of retcons and multiple layers of amnesia and fitting it into a 110-minute movie, I think they generally made smart choices.

For one, Gerald didn't create Shadow using Black Arms DNA, because Gerald didn't create Shadow at all! Instead, Shadow arrived on Earth inside a meteor, and Gerald was merely the prominent GUN scientist who studied him after he was captured. (That meteor does have very strong Black Arms vibes, though, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility of them exploring that stuff in the future.) This simplifies things a lot and allows Shadow to be a direct foil for Sonic, kind of a version of our hero who was treated as a lab rat and lost the only human he considered family instead of finding happiness like Sonic has. Then later Shadow hurts Tom and Sonic wants revenge, and it mirrors Shadow's feelings about Maria, and after they fight they can empathize with each other over this, Shadow sees the error of his ways and helps save the world, yada yada yada. You get it. People predicted 95% of this movie's plot from the trailers, but it's effective.

Likewise, all of the stuff about creating Shadow as the ultimate life form who's immune to all disease to cure Maria's illness is completely cut out. Shadow's still called the ultimate life form, but he's treated as more of an energy source than a genetic research project here, playing off of the stuff about Eggman wanting to harness Sonic's natural Chaos Energy in the movies. The original intent behind the ultimate life form project was always hard to explain in the games and doesn't even come up that much, so I don't blame them for cutting it.

Because Gerald isn't doing genetic experiments and creating artificial life, the Biolizard also doesn't exist. It does, however, appear in an old monster movie Shadow and Maria watch in a montage, with Shadow later commenting that he worries he's a monster like the one he saw in the movie. That's a clever way to include it, I think.

The ARK sort of exists. There was no space colony back in the '70s, all of the events of Shadow's flashbacks just took place at a secret GUN base on Earth. Fair enough for a version of the story ostensibly set in the real world. The big space laser in the third act of the film is obviously supposed to evoke the ARK, but it's referred to as simply the Eclipse Cannon. It's still not a full-blown space colony, just a weapon of mass destruction Gerald designed for GUN in exchange for his release (while also secretly planning to use it to blow up the planet in an act of revenge). I am, however, pleased to report that the Eclipse Cannon still has a giant Eggman face on it.

And as for Maria: I like her in this! She's obviously not going to get a ton of screentime, and she's always going to be a very straightforward character, but she's more playful and lively here. She teases Shadow for being grumpy and plays with him a lot. She feels less like this perfect embodiment of everything good and pure in the world and more like an actual kid. She's still not a complex character, but it works.

And the most important question: do they show a child getting shot and killed by the military? The answer is almost. In the flashback, GUN soldiers chase Maria, Shadow, and Gerald and ready their guns, but the young Commander Walters (who's in his 20s rather than being a kid) grabs them and tries to stop them from firing on a child. In the chaos, a soldier fires, missing Maria but hitting a generator that then blows up and kills Maria. So, y'know, close enough I suppose.

So, yes, many of the details change here, but they captured the gist of Shadow's story from SA2. The emotional core is there. I will say, though, I almost feel like Shadow isn't in this movie as much as I thought he'd be? I think he's used effectively in all of his scenes, and they make room for his backstory, and BOY does he get to kick ass in his fights, but for much of the middle part of the movie he's overshadowed by Ivo and Gerald. Though this might be a compromise to leave more screentime for...

Tails and Knuckles

I'm relieved to report that Tails and Knuckles both get a good amount of cool stuff to do in this! They don't feel like an afterthought.

I was worried that Tails in particular would completely fall by the wayside, since even his debut movie didn't entirely know what to do with him. But he's good here. He pretty much just feels like the Tails from the games at this point, especially since they dropped that fawning admiration he had for Sonic with that running gag of him going "Only Sonic the Hedgehog could do that!" He often chimes in as the one who wants Team Sonic to stick together when Sonic and Knuckles bicker. He particularly gets to shine in the Mission Impossible-inspired heist sequence at the GUN headquarters in London that serves as the climax of the second act, which feels like it was tailor made to let him shine as the tech guy of the team. He also gets several opportunities to swoop in and catch someone for a save in an action scene. He's good in this!

Knuckles is... fine. He's definitely fallen into the role of the comic relief dumb bruiser since joining the good guys, but he's at least a little better than he was in his own streaming show. The jokes lean more into him just being really brash about his strength and skill, rather than him being this archaic warrior who doesn't understand anything about the modern world. He also gets a few more serious bits in the back third of the movie where he gets to shine a little more, so overall it evens out to him being fine. They could've done way worse.

As for the relevance of the Knuckles show: Knuckles is now said to be the guardian of the Master Emerald, like in the games, though with no Angel Island this amounts to him hiding it somewhere for safekeeping. It's eventually revealed that he just gave it to Wade, who gets exactly one scene (sorry, Wade-heads) for a joke about him using the Master Emerald as a hockey puck. So, the miniseries explained why Knuckles has a connection with Wade. That's it! Also I think Knuckles might use the Flames of Disaster a bit in fights, but they never called the technique out by name, so I never really thought about it. So, yeah, the six-episode streaming miniseries about Wade bowling has zero meaningful relevance to the Shadow movie. Who could have seen this coming?

Miscellaneous humans

For that matter, the human supporting cast is MASSIVELY downplayed in this one. Tom and Maddie are there for two key sequences (the beginning of the movie and the GUN HQ heist), but otherwise they disappear for long stretches of the movie. They don't go to Japan in act I, nor do they go to space in act III, and there's no subplot for them during those periods, either. There's nothing like the wedding subplot in Sonic 2 where they'd constantly cut back to Hawaii for comic relief with the humans and only reveal why this was relevant to the plot near the end. (There's also no random dance battle in Siberia.) If a human character is here, it's because they have something to contribute to the plot right away. Most people will probably consider this an improvement, and I'd certainly say it makes for a much tighter script, though I have to remind everyone that I thought the wedding being a GUN sting operation was such a funny twist that I'm a defender of the Hawaii subplot.

On the subject of Tom, something funny I've noticed is that they've just completely downplayed the fact that Tom and Wade are cops. Tom being a cop never comes up once. Wade being a cop only gets referenced via the fact that he's practicing hockey on the roof of the police station in his one scene, but he's not in uniform or anything. They clearly got the memo that we don't want Sonic to hang out with cops.

Here's something else funny: Rachel and Randall got character posters, but they're actually not in the movie! Not technically, anyway. During the heist sequence at GUN HQ, Tom and Maddie use some gadgets Tails invented to holographically disguise themselves as those other characters. But the real Rachel and Randall never show up in the flesh. It's a very odd way to shoehorn the actors into the movie. (Jojo is also absent. They did not give her Amy's role of being the girl who reminds Shadow of Maria. Instead they just let Sonic have the big heart to heart with Shadow that makes him switch sides.)

You know who IS in this movie? Krysten Ritter. Not as the voice of Rouge, as the fandom once hoped, but as a director for GUN. She gets like three scenes and she feels completely checked out the whole time. Can't say I blame her! She's not really a character, just a plot necessity. Commander Walters dies in Japan but gives Sonic one of two keycards needed to activate the Eclipse Cannon, and then Ritter's character assumes Sonic stole it and labels him a bad guy. So that's why they have to break into GUN HQ in the second act instead of just talking things out with them. Still, I am at least relieved that Sonic doesn't work with GUN for most of the movie.

I gotta be honest: when Walters pulled a credit card-shaped object out of his pocket, I thought he was about to give Sonic another Olive Garden gift card as his final act before dying. Part of me wishes that happened.

The supporting human character in this who really gets to shine is Agent Stone, which I'm sure most fans will agree was the correct choice. There's a LOT of Agent Stone in this. He's good. I don't have much to say about him, but he's fun as usual.

But, of course, the ones who steal the show are Jim Carrey, and his costar Jim Carrey.

The Robotniks

I've gone back and forth on whether or not I can actually see movie Robotnik as Robotnik. I think with this third and final entry in the Jim Carrey Robotnik Trilogy, I've landed on... yeah, that's just Jim Carrey playing a Jim Carrey character. He's absolutely having fun with the role, and I enjoyed watching him, but I think a lot of that comes down to the fact that I'm a millennial who grew up watching Jim Carrey movies. If you didn't like him before, this movie will probably be nails on a chalkboard to you, because now there are two of him.

Ivo's arc here leans very heavily into the fact that he grew up as an orphan and never knew his family, a thing offhandedly mentioned in the first movie that's never been a thing for any other version of the character. Here, he learns that he has a living grandfather who's also a mad scientist, and it feels like a hole in his heart has been filled. It certainly makes sense for a place to take this version of the character, and it fits with the movie's themes of finding and losing family, but the cartoonish, childlike affection Ivo feels towards Gerald and all the scenes of them frolicking and dancing together have basically nothing to do with the characters from the games. He's a fun villain for this movie, but he's overwhelmingly used as comic relief this time rather than as a serious threat. He doesn't particularly feel like Sega's Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the arch nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog who'd take over the world with an army of robots and a fleet of airships in the span of a day if Sonic wasn't around to stop him. He's a guy who lives in a big crab robot and has some drones. He has more in common with Carrey's depictions of the Grinch or the Riddler or Count Olaf than Dr. Eggman. Though he does, at least, finally get his outfit from the games by the end of the movie. So that's something. And also he's in a fat suit now. They only make jokes at the expense of his weight a little. Hooray...?

Gerald, meanwhile, is... largely the same character as movie Eggman, but older, so they can make jokes about him having saggy flesh and smelling funny and needing dentures. (Also, his voice kind of sounds like Homer Simpson sometimes?) To his credit, Carrey absolutely nails the handful of more serious scenes Gerald gets, whether it's Maria's death or his sinister turn when he reveals that he actually wants to destroy the Earth. But then it's right back to goofs about there being two of the same guy. Even the final battle features a lot of slapstick shenanigans with the two Robotniks fighting each other. I was able to enjoy the absurdity of it all, but if the humor doesn't land for you the dual Jim Carrey schtick is a hell of a lot of the movie. I wouldn't be surprised if there was more Gerald than Shadow in the movie, when you go and tally up their screentime. I was able to enjoy the sheer absurdity of it, but your mileage will vary.

I will, however, say that the split screen stuff they do with the two Carreys is EXTREMELY impressive, from a filmmaking perspective. They were absolutely flexing with their ability to pull the effect off. They don't rely on cheap tricks like cutting a lot, or having shot/reverse shot scenes where you're looking at the back of a body double's head. Instead they have a lot of long takes where the two Robotniks are talking to each other, you can see both of their faces, and they'll even hug and touch each other a lot, and the whole time the conversation maintains a natural pace like it really is two actors playing off of each other. It's really well done. It's an incredibly silly idea, but boy did they commit to it.

Sonic

I've hardly said anything about Sonic himself in all of this. It's his movie, isn't it! Well... I don't know, he's fine.

I feel like movie Sonic is a known quantity at this point, and either you like this take on the character or you don't. There was some speculation early on that this was supposed to be a younger Sonic who would grow into being the character we know from the games and comics, the one who's still got lots of quips but is also kind of aloof and cool, a free spirit who goes where the wind takes him, a figure the other characters look up to. And... no, that didn't happen. Once again he gets more serious as the stakes are raised, and he's totally badass when he goes Super, but the rest of the time he's still a little goober with tons of generic one-liners who learns schmaltzy lessons about the importance of family. He's still constantly going to undercut the tension of most scenes by cracking a pop culture reference that will make the average American parent go "haha I've heard of that." I don't think they're ever gonna change that. I think this just what the writers think Sonic is like.

And, again, for what it is, it's fine. He's a little annoying. You already know how you feel about movie Sonic. This third entry won't change that. But they do, at least, have him say "Talk about low budget flights, no food or movies... I'm outta here!" before jumping out of a helicopter. As my thoughts on the climax will show, I am not immune to fanservice.

The climax

God, the climax is SOOOOO fucking good. It's fantastic. Easily the best action these movies have ever done.

Rather than saving Super Shadow for the team-up with Sonic at the end, they have both of them go Super to fight each other first, and they just go full DBZ with it, fighting across the entire planet. It absolutely rules. I think this is the new coolest fight the two of them have had in anything ever. And then they have to stop the Eclipse Cannon together, and sure, there's no Biolizard. But Gerald DOES release a swarm of GUN Hunter robots, and the ensuing space battle turns into some Gundam shit. It's good! It's so good!!! The movie's flaws kind of melt away for me here when I'm watching Super Shadow take out an army of robots with Chaos Spears on the big screen. What a timeline we're living in.

And yes, they play "Live and Learn." They had to. They knew the assignment. They actually play a slight remix, but it's still got the original vocals, so it's perfectly recognizable. Actually, the tune of the song is used as a leitmotif for Shadow throughout the movie, first introduced via an acoustic guitar version played by Maria, and I really love that. I've been begging these movies to use more music from the games the whole time, and I'm glad they finally did so here. (They also use the traditional level clear jingle early in the film, and Eggman's theme from SA2 is very briefly used as a ringtone.)

... Anyway, uh, meanwhile Eggman, Tails, and Knuckles straight up just kill Gerald to save the world? They unceremoniously knock him into an energy field at the end of their slapstick fight aboard the Eclipse Cannon and he disintegrates like he hit a bugzapper. It's over in an instant. It's not graphic or anything, but it's, like... I didn't expect them to show it, or for it to be such a casual murder! Eggman has one quip about it and then immediately moves on.

Shortly after this, Eggman and Shadow sacrifice themselves to stop the Eclipse Cannon. Shadow's sacrifice doesn't stick, obviously (he's revealed to be alive by the end of the second stinger—pretend to be shocked), but Eggman's probably dead dead. I seriously doubt Jim Carrey's gonna come out of retirement for these movies again. His final moments before the big explosion are also SO dragged out and belabored. He has a dramatic final line like ten times in a row. It really just feels like the series saying goodbye to Carrey. And, again, it feels like a fitting enough end for this Eggman's arc, but it's an odd adaptation of the character from the games.

And so, that's what we're left with. This is far from Sonic Adventure 2: The Movie. It's not that, though there are many, many references made to that game in particular. It's a sequel to the film Sonic the Hedgehog 2 that has a similar tone and style, but Shadow and Gerald are in it, and Shadow gets some really cool fights, and there's a liiiiiittle more focus on stuff from the games than last time, and the script's a little tighter. If that sounds fun to you, you will have fun with this. I know I did. If it doesn't, you're probably better off waiting for them to inevitably do an animated reboot whenever this live action series runs out of steam.

It hasn't quite run out of steam yet, though...

The post-credits scenes, and the future

One of the big questions going into this was: what's next? How do they top a Shadow movie with heavy Sonic Adventure 2 overtones, in terms of hype for the fans? How do you fill Eggman's shoes after Carrey retires, for real this time? There are still more fan favorite rival characters to get through, but how many movies in a row can they introduce a furry foe for Sonic who inevitably turns good and helps him stop a larger threat by the end? And when the hell are we gonna see the girls?

Well, we now have our answer, and it's one I'm cautiously excited for: a whole army of Metal Sonics, and Amy!

Yes, Amy! Finally!! It's an absolute crime that we've gone three whole movies and a streaming miniseries without including the female lead of the series. I've complained about this ad nauseum (and also the fact that they cut Rouge from the story). But at least now they're finally doing something about it.

But now the question is, how will they characterize Amy? Sega's struggled with her for years, and there's a million different directions you can take her. Her one scene here has her smashing a bunch of Metal Sonics and wearing a cloak for the sake of a dramatic reveal, which gives her the vibes of a mysterious, badass action girl. This is, of course, completely different from how Sonic and Amy met in the games. What will her personality be like? She doesn't speak here, so who will they get to play her? Where did she come from? Will she even have a crush on Sonic? All of these have yet to be determined. So, like, I'm hyped to finally see Amy, a character who should've been in the movies from the start, but they could so easily end up playing it safe with an incredibly boring girlboss version of Amy who's no fun at all. We'll have to wait and see.

(My prediction: they're going to try to cast either Zendaya or Ariana as Amy.)

Metal Sonic, likewise, is very exciting, and he looks perfect. He looks just like the design from the games. But the question is: what will they do with this army of Metals? Will they be lead by one main Metal Sonic, perhaps Neo Metal Sonic, who gets to be a proper bad guy? Will they take some cues from Sonic CD, Heroes, and the OVA, or do something completely original? Where did they come from? Were they activated as a failsafe after Eggman died? Did they and Amy come from some sort of bad future, riffing on Sonic CD's time travel? Will they explore the fact that Metal wants to be the one and only Sonic? Or will they just be an army of disposable robot grunts for Sonic and friends to mow down like it's a Dynasty Warriors game, while some other villain takes center stage?

It could go so many different ways, and some prospects are more exciting than others. I mean, the Knuckles show had endless possibilities for what it could do with him, and none of the options on my bingo card were "Pachacamac's ghost tells him to help Wade win a bowling tournament." And while I'm a sicko who thinks it's funny that the Knuckles show is what it is, forgive me for keeping my hype about Amy and Metal Sonic in check here until we learn more.

Regardless of what they do, it'll still be hard to top the hype of Shadow, and it'll be hard to fill Jim Carrey's shoes for general audiences. So despite this clear statement of intent, I have no idea what the future of this film franchise holds. But regardless of what they do, I can say one thing for certain: the kids in my theater were hyped as hell for it. They popped off over Metal Sonic, and they were screaming their heads off with excitement over Amy. I heard a teenage girl on the opposite end of my row of seats say "finally!" over Amy's reveal, verbalizing my exact thoughts. She also said that this movie was "peak," though it diverged from the games, and she hoped they'd do a movie with Silver and Blaze someday.

The kids are gonna be okay.

[sonknuxadow]

see i can understand why some people are annoyed with just how Much a lot of the more recent idw sonic stuff focuses on new characters when some game characters arent appearing as often but i dont get why people are mad over new characters being introduced and having stories about them in general. like why are you reading the comic based on the Hedgehog With 5 Million Friends franchise and getting mad when he has 5 million friends