British actor Idris Elba has been chosen to play Knuckles the Echidna in the next cinematic instalment of the Sonic franchise.
There aren’t many characters that could be announced just by a picture of their clenched fist, but fortunately for us Knuckles the Echidna – one of Sonic’s close associates – is one such example. That’s how Idris Elba revealed to his followers on Twitter and Instagram that he’ll be taking on this role in the sequel to 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog.
Knock, knock….#SonicMovie2 #Knuckles pic.twitter.com/N1PW5XaCEd
— Idris Elba (@idriselba) August 10, 2021
Accompanied just by the words “Knock, knock…”, Elba disclosed that he would be voicing the character who, at least in the classic games, starts off as an adversary to our beloved blue protagonist but then realises the error of his ways and joins forces to fight against the evil Dr Eggman, a role that will be reprised by the one and only Jim Carrey.
The original was one of the surprise successes of last year, primarily because the first trailer released for the film went down like a lead balloon with the fanbase. Receiving similar criticism to the movie Cats for featuring CGI animals that were positioned smack bang in the middle of uncanny valley (particularly with regard to Sonic’s all-too-human teeth), the studio took the criticism on board and delayed the film’s release to fix up the special effects. The decision paid off, as it ended up being one of the year’s best-performing films at the box office.
The official synopsis for the sequel runs as follows: “After settling in Green Hills, Sonic is ready for more freedom, and Tom and Maddie agree to leave him home while they go on vacation. But, no sooner are they gone, when Dr. Robotnik comes back, this time with a new partner, Knuckles, in search for an emerald that has the power to both build and destroy civilisations. Sonic teams up with his own sidekick, Tails, and together they embark on a journey to find the emerald before it falls into the wrong hands.”
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is set to be released in cinemas on April 8, 2022.
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